As many of you will know from previous newsletters, ASGBI continues to forge and develop a brilliant, productive and collaborative relationship with our colleagues across the pond in the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES), by working together across a number of areas.
The next step in this ‘special relationship’ is to co-deliver the Global Laparoscopy Advancement Programme (GLAP) as a new collaborative project between the societies in Mengo Hospital, Kampala, Uganda, in February 2026.
This new site for the GLAP course represents a major step forward in making high-quality laparoscopic surgical training more widely available and accessible in sub-Saharan Africa which is desperately needed. For those not familiar, the GLAP course is designed to provide hands-on, practical training in core laparoscopic skills, empowering local surgeons with the knowledge, confidence, and technical ability to expand their minimally invasive surgical programmes within their institutions.
Working alongside a hugely experienced faculty, the course combines simulation-based learning, live demonstrations, and mentorship to create sustainable and reproducible skill advancement allowing local teams to deliver this advanced surgical care and gain accreditation in the process with certification via the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS). ASGBI is hugely proud to support this global initiative and in doing so I hope it demonstrates our commitment to promoting surgical excellence, collaboration, and equitable access to high-quality surgical care across the world.
As Emergency General Surgery continues to evolve as a subspecialty, for me as the Director of EGS, collaboration remains key. Whether through ASGBI meetings, international congresses, or local service improvement projects, our shared goal must be to ensure timely, safe, and high-quality care for an often under-represented group of patients. I am grateful to everyone who has been involved in this to date and acknowledge the huge amount of work that is delivered by trainees, consultants and allied health professionals to drive innovation, research and ultimately policy. Let’s continue building this momentum together and I look forward to seeing many of you at the upcoming symposium and continuing these conversations.
Mr Adam Peckham Cooper
ASGBI Director of EGS
