Pax chirurgica--the surgical peace

Peace is a time for planning and building. It is not merely the absence of war, the destroyer. Surgery has been seen as a war against disease, which must be cut out. Even during peace, trauma is a war of epidemic proportions. Medical professionals now believe prevention is better than cure, and in surgery, much attention is paid not merely to excision, but to repair, reconstruction, and transplantation. Only when there is global peace is it possible for international scientific societies to flourish. Peace provides the opportunity for clinical trials on a large scale and for the exchange of scientists, surgeons, and surgical trainees. The Society has established a Secretariat, a central bureau where requests about acquisition of new skills or details of research opportunities may be directed, advertised, and relayed.