|
Increasing problems with the lack of proper hygiene and infection control in an ever more globalised world are the reason for the foundation of an organisation entirely dedicated to dealing with these difficulties.
Although the EU has enforced a number of standards regarding hygiene, disinfection and sterilization, every member state still seems to believe that things are different within its own borders. The time has now come for a European organization to make constructive propositions in order to unify these norms and, most importantly, their application.
One of AESIC’s top priorities is to define a common EU set of recommendations concerning hygiene and infection control in dentistry - based on the European Norms and Directives. We will define what we agree on within the EU concerning hygiene and infection control, thus making AESIC the leading forum for promoting a European consensus, giving a overview of the European hygiene legislation, guidelines and standards as well as clinical procedures.
AESIC’s activities are based on European legislation but the organization is open to members from all over the world.
AESIC’s has officially been set up and fulfill all juridical demands as a non-profit organization.
AESIC´s first official conference was held 18th November 2010 in Leeds.
The three main subjects that were discussed at the conference were:
- Antibiotic resistance
- European Norms - based on science or on fiction?
- Each European nation can follow its own regulations - or is it obliged to follow the general EU-norms?
Chair was Dr Martin Fulford, BDS. Mphil.DGDP.FIBMS.
At the conference a formal steering committee was elected, as well as a technical subcommittee.
Current members of AESIC Steering Committee:
| Lone Jager Lindquist, President Nitram Dental a/s |
 |
Lone Jager Lindquist has more than 10 years' experience within the medical equipment industry, where she currently holds the position of President, Nitram Dental a/s - the hygiene division of Sirona; a market leader in dental equipment. She has used her entreprenerial skills to build up and develop Nitram Dental into a market leader of combination autoclaves; including establishing its global distribution network with a wide number of professional partners.
Before entering the dental market, Lone Jager Lindquist worked for Ethicon Endo Surgery (a Johnson & Johnson company), a market leader in manufacturing and supplying surgical equipment. Together these experiences provided Lone Jager Lindquist with extensive understanding and knowledge about infection prevention and control which she channels on a daily basis into the activities of both Nitram Dental a/s and AESIC.
|
| Richard Musgrave, Marketing Manager, Schuelke Ltd UK |
 |
With a background in the industry spanning 18 years, Richard brought his knowledge and experience to Schuelke 5 years ago. Initially working to develop both the range of infection control products as well as the acclaimed infection control training division, Richard is now responsible for the UK marketing team.
He attributes the success of Schuelke to the quality of its product and its dedication to providing the best possible support to the dental profession, both in the UK and beyond. This commitment is demonstrated through Schuelke´s association with leading companies such as Dental Protection Limited.
|
| Charles A Meadows, Vice President W&H Dentalwerk GmbH |
 |
Charles Meadows is also Managing Director W&H (UK) Ltd, President W&H Impex Inc Canada, President W&H North America Inc Portland OR.
He is a resident in North Yorkshire, UK.
Charles Meadows has been in the Dental Industry since 1983 and with W&H since 1993.
|
| Michel Paten, Board of Directors, W&H, Bürmoos |
 |
(Treasurer)
|
| Andrew Smith, BDS, FDS RCS, PhD, FRCPath, College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences, Glasgow Dental Hospital & School, University of Glasgow, UK |
 |
(Chairman)
Professor Andrew Smith is one of the UKs international experts on infection prevention and medical device decontamination. He has an extensive publication record and grant funding over 1.5 million pounds. Andrew has undertaken many ground breaking investigations into device reprocessing most notably for observational studies that obtained evidence for improvements in infection prevention in general dental practice in the UK.
Other research interests include TSE´s (a committee member of the Scottish TSE Network www.stn.ed.ac.uk , oral microbiology and the molecular epidemiology of virulence genes in streptococcus species.
Education and training is core to improvements in infection prevention and I´m delighted to be part of Team AESIC, a collaborative industry and academic venture to facilitate improvements in this area and establishing more evidence for improvements in current practice.
|
| Noam Tamir, Founder and CEO, the Healthcare Learning Co and Smile-on Ltd. |
 |
Noam Tamir founded The Healthcare Learning Company (HLC) and its subsidiaries and have been the CEO since inception.
Smile-on Ltd (HLC’s main subsidiary) is the leading provider of internet-based Education & training services for the European dental community with the help of a broad and highly experienced team.
Smile-on have set up the only worldwide Blended learning MSc in Restorative & Aesthetic together with Manchester University. This unique online and face-to-face program is benefiting over 50 students per year from many countries. We have developed partnerships with many organisations such as Universities, Dental Associations, The EU, PCTs, the DoH, NHS and many suppliers to the industry.
Prevention & Infection Control is at the heart of our programmes and I’m very proud to be involved with setting up AESIC.
|
| Mikael Zimmerman, DDS, PhD, associate professor |
 |
(Editorial/Advisory board)
Mikael Zimmerman is one of the forefront academics behind quality assurance within Swedish Dentistry. He was awarded the Swedish Dental Academy award, and the Karolinska institutet award for pedagogical efforts. He has published over 20 peer-reviewed papers, 50 abstracts and 5 textbooks. He is the author of over 50 papers on cross infection control.
Mikael Zimmerman is cofounder of private enterprise, BZB CareSystems AB, working with development and education concerning, cross-infection, quality-assurance and quality-development in the dental field.
On several occasions, Mikael Zimmerman has been an advisor to the Swedish Foreign Ministry on hygiene and infection control and he has worked as advisor to the Swedish Armed Forces in the development of the new Medical Care System to be used by The Nordic Battle Group
|
Technical subcommittee:
| Ken Green, Sales Consultant, SciCan |
| |
(Secretary)
|
| Paul Jenkins, Decontamination Manager, North Bristol NHS Trust |
 |
Paul initially trained as a mechanial engineer and then joined a manufacturer of autoclaves as a service and test engineer, dealing with many organisations from acute hospitals to pharmaceutical companies. After a number of years Paul joined a service company undertaking the role of HTM2010 test engineer or Gloucestershire NHS Trust.
In 2000 he joined Eastwood Park Training Centre as a tutor with the "decontamination" department and went on to become the department Manager in 2004. Paul moved from Eastwood Park and joined the NHS three years ago.
He is now the Deconatminationn Manager for North Brisol NHS Trust; as such Paul manages both Frenchay and Southmead Sterile Service Departments and advises the Trust on decontamination policies and protocols. Paul also continues to train and present on decontamination issues to all levels of personnel involved in medical device decontamination.
|
| Christian Stempf: Management team, sales and marketing, W&H Sterilization |
| |
Christian comes from the European dental industry. In particular, he has been involved in infection control and sterilization for over 19 years. He is a member of both French (AFNOR) and European (CEN-TC102) hygiene committees, which formulated the first European Norm on bench top sterilizers (EN13060). Christian has gathered valuable rational knowledge and experience through his daily activities and contacts with sterilization professionals throughout the world. He has also lectured world-wide on the topic of sterilization.
Christian joined AESIC’s steering committee because he sees this association will be the platform for enhancing, informing and educating on hygiene and he looks forward to sharing his values with other experts.
|
|