Introduction

Dear friends and colleagues,We have great pleasure in inviting you all to the 12th International symposium on MPS and related diseases, which will be held in Noordwijkerhout, the Netherlands, from 28 June to 1 July 2012.

By bringing patients, parents and families together with professionals, the symposium will be able to share information on all aspects of MPS and related disorders. The overall objective is to advance the quality of care and treatment. As well as musculoskeletal disease and MPS, the brain and MPS, and new approaches to treatment, the main topics of the symposium will be pricing and reimbursement. All will be covered in joint sessions attended by doctors, scientists, patients and patients’ families. Separately, doctors and scientists will also attend more detailed sessions on the CNS, bone disease and novel approaches to treatment.

Families will not only have opportunities to meet peers from other countries, but will be able to attend sessions on optimizing care, dealing with clinical issues and surgery in MPS, and ‘living fully with MPS’. The symposium will be held at the four-star NH Leeuwenhorst conference center in Noordwijkerhout, which is approximately 20 minutes from Amsterdam Schiphol airport and 30 minutes from the city of Amsterdam. Noordwijkerhout lies very near to a coast with long sandy beaches, and various major cities and sites of interest are within easy reach. Special activities will be organised for young patients and their siblings, who will be accompanied by trained volunteers.

On behalf of the organizing committee, we look forward to welcoming you to Noordwijkerhout next June,

Frits Wijburg
Ans van der Ploeg
Hanka Meutgeert