29 people attended and Allyson Pollock chaired the meeting.

1.      Minutes of the 46th AGM – These were accepted as correct and signed.

 

2.      Matters arising not addressed below  –  None

 

3.      Secretary Report  – Rebecca Hardy reported that the Society currently has a membership of around 1180 with 34 new ordinary members being elected in the last year. The total number of members was about 150 down on last year, due to individuals who have not paid their subscription for three years or more having been taken off the membership list. Rebecca thanked the organisers of last years ASM at the University of Liverpool for what had been a very successful and enjoyable meeting.  She also thanked the organisers of this years meeting at the University of Edinburgh.  She reported on last years ASM and the submission of abstracts for this years meeting. She also reported that draft bye-laws had been drawn up by the Committee to allow for the formation of sections within the Society. These would be voted on at the AGM. Rebecca highlighted that it was now possible for members to update contact details via the website. She reported that Robert West had been the new IEA European Federation representative this year. She indicated that the Committee were continuing to pursue the issue of data protection legislation and the potential impact on research where the initial intention had been to develop a "briefing note" outlining facts to SSM members. This had not proved easy to achieve, and other approaches were currently being discussed. Rebecca thanked all those who had helped with the running of the Society in the last year.

 

4.      Honorary Treasurers Report – Ian Harvey reported that the Society finances were in a very healthy state. A surplus of £7,180 had been made in the last year. He reported that £23,000 was now being made on subscriptions per year and a profit had been made on meetings held in the last year.

 

5.      Report on EUPHA – Rebecca Hardy reported that the 2002 EUPHA meeting had taken place in Dresden, Germany.  For the first time there were two sorts of abstracts: research abstracts and practice related abstracts.  Rebecca highlighted the three main activities undertaken by EUPHA in 2002. 1) Improvement of EUPHA structure and presentation, which involved the formation of a working group on the future of EUPHA to formulate a new strategy to improve EUPHA's role as the bridge between research, policy and practice in Europe. 2) Continuous expansion of the networking possibilities of EUPHA conferences, which involved the implementation of the first skills building workshop in Dresden and a new lay-out for conferences to allow for more parallel sessions and workshops and discussion time. 3) Specific EUPHA projects, which were 5 workshops on the future of public health in Europe, a project to support public health associations as key links between government and the scientific community in central and Eastern Europe, and the setting up of an accreditation agency for public health training programmes. Rebecca also indicated that there were uncertainties over future access to the European Journal of Public Health (EJPH) via SSM membership. It is possible that future access to the journal will be limited to an electronic version. A EUPHA negotiating group has been set up to consider future options for the journal, but no changes will be made until 2005 at the earliest. Finally, the 2003 EUPHA meeting will be in Rome, 2004 in Oslo, 2005 in Graz and 2006 in Switzerland.

 

6.      Report on IEA European Federation of Epidemiological Societies – Robert West reported that there was a Federation newsletter, co-edited by SSM member Yoav Ben-Shlomo, which could be accessed via the SSM website. He highlighted two discussions taking place within the Federation. Firstly, the recognition of training in epidemiology, where the British view differs quite considerably from some other European countries. Secondly, public access to data and data protection issues. Robert also clarified that all members of SSM are linked members to the IEA. In future, the possibility of SSM membership being linked with more formal membership of the IEA (with automatic subscription to the International Journal of Epidemiology) may be negotiated. Yoav Ben-Shlomo indicated that he had written a position piece in the newsletter on this subject.

Discussion: There was concern expressed that, with SSM being an interdisciplinary Society and  not all members being epidemiologists, the advantages for some of the membership of a more formal affiliation was not obvious. This problem might be solved by an Epidemiology Section within the Society (See item 8). Shah Ebrahim indicated that the cost of Society affiliation to IEA would be an agenda item at the meeting in Toledo in October. He also indicated that the cost to the Society of IJE subscription would probably be in the region of £1000-£7000. Concern was expressed by a number of those present at the meeting regarding the potential proliferation of organisations that SSM could become affiliated to. It was also thought the IEA Federation should be encouraged to talk to EUPHA regarding common goals of the two organisations and to avoid duplication of effort. Robert West will represent these views at the meeting in Toledo. Shah Ebrahim will talk to Miquel Porta (Chairman, IEA EEF) and EUPHA prior to Toledo. It was agreed that the Society should wait to see whether any proposal for closer affiliation goes through before deciding on a course of action.

 

7.      Election of Chair Elect, Honorary Treasurer, Honorary Secretary and 2 Ordinary Members of the committee and Honorary Members of the Society – The committee had received a single nomination for Chair Elect (Sally Macintyre) and a single nomination for Honorary Secretary (Aileen Clarke). These candidates were formally elected.  Joy Townsend and Mark Gilthorpe were elected on a ballot of the membership as ordinary committee members. There had been no nominations for Honorary Treasurer and Ian Harvey stated that he was willing to continue for another year. It was agreed that Ian carry on for another year, while actively searching for a successor. The three nominees put forward by the Committee for honorary membership, David Barker, Iain Chalmers and Peter Townsend, were elected.

 

8.      Formations of sections in SSM – Rebecca Hardy reported that the Committee proposal for a change in bye-laws, allowing for the setting up of sections, had been in the June mailing. She reported that no expressions of interest regarding the setting up of a section had been received.

Discussion: Raj Bhopal felt that the committee should be more active in the promotion of sections, for example, by co-opting members to the Committee to take the lead. There was discussion as to whether there was apathy within the membership towards sections or whether there would be more enthusiasm once the bye-laws to allow for sections had been implemented. It was agreed that the response of the membership be monitored by the Committee after changes to the bye-laws had been passed. The Honorary Secretary clarified that the sections would be self-sufficient and that each section would have a representative on the committee, either an elected committee member or, if no elected member of the committee was a member of a particular section, a representative would be co-opted. Jon Nicholl expressed concerned about the upper limit (25% of the membership) that had been placed on the size of sections in the proposed bye-laws. Rebecca Hardy indicated that the size of sections could be controlled by the Committee under bye-law 7(v). Jon Nicholl proposed that the addition to the bye-laws be accepted with deletion of the clause regarding an upper size limit. Seconded by Sally Macintyre. Agreed by the AGM.

 

9.      Future scientific meetings – These were outlined in the Secretary’s report.

 

10.  Any Other Business – Aileen Clarke indicated that she had been SSM representative on the EUPHA scientific committee, but as she was taking over as Honorary Secretary, a replacement would be required. Iain Chalmers expressed his delight at being made an honorary member of the Society and thanked the Society. He also highlighted that a list of Cochrane Lectures, including 2003, would appear in his piece in the Encyclopaedia of Biostatistics.  Allyson Pollock explained that the committee had wished to discuss the role of the society in evidence based policy. It was agreed that, given the shortage of time, a piece be written for the newsletter to ask the membership for its views.