Every 5 years there is an International Thyroid Congress (ITC) hosted by one of our sister societies [Asian and Oceanic Thyroid Association (AOTA), Latin American Thyroid Society (LATS), European Thyroid Association (ETA), and American Thyroid Association (ATA)]. These meetings represent the best of inter-society collegiality harnessed for promoting clinical care, research and education in thyroidology. Each of these international meetings also represents an enormous undertaking on the part of the program organizing committee. This year’s 16th ITC in Xi’an, China has been planned over a period of 4 years.

The current devastating situation with the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan in Hubei province has tragically caused an escalating number of deaths and illnesses. Our hearts go out to the Chinese people. We send all those affected our thoughts and prayers. The trajectory of the current outbreak is uncertain and our knowledge about the transmission and impact of the infection are ever evolving. The current level 3 travel advisory (no nonessential travel) has been extended beyond Hubei province to the whole of China, and the advisory may change. Depending on how the situation further evolves, these developments could seriously affect the upcoming ITC in China. Xi’an is about 400 miles northwest of Wuhan. The program organizing committee is actively staying abreast of the situation and will endeavor to keep members of our sister societies appraised of updated information.

At the current time we advise delaying making travel plans. Deadlines for abstract submissions and early bird registrations have been extended and announced on the conference website (www.itc2020.org). We apologize for this uncertainty and we commend the program organizing committee and the local organizing committee for their flexibility. We appreciate how difficult the situation is for the ITC organizers and that the situation may place all their creative and meticulous planning in jeopardy.

Please join us in extending our thoughts and sympathies to the Chinese people. We also thank the program organizing committee for their ongoing efforts at this difficult time. We would like to express our solidarity with the Chinese people and the ITC organizers. The ITC represents to us all the beating heart of the World Thyroid Community and a wonderful occasion to meet in a unique environment of shared aims, friendship and excellent science.

Please follow the updates on the websites of AOTA, LATS, ETA, and ATA.

Signed by

Jacqueline Jonklaas (ATA),
Martha Zeiger (ATA),
Weiping Teng (AOTA),
Won Bae Kim (AOTA),
Takashi Akamizu (AOTA),
Haixia Guan (AOTA),
Leonidas Duntas (ETA),
Ana Luiza Maia (LATS)

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