The Japanese Association for Thoracic Surgery has received a number of messages of condolence and support from overseas with regard to the recent Tohoku earthquake.

 

The magnitude 9.0 quake is the worst crisis faced by postwar Japan. Recovery will be a lengthy process, but the people of the Tohoku region are strong-willed, patient, and enduring in character. Heartfelt words of encouragement have come from all over the world to lift our spirits, and we look forward to seeing the region flourish again.

 

We would like to express our sincere appreciation for your concern and support.

 

Sincerely yours,

 

Koichi Tabayashi, MD

President
Japanese Association for Thoracic Surgery

Shinichiro Miyoshi, MD

Vice President

Yuichi Ueda, MD

Congress President

 

 

We offer our heartfelt sympathies to everyone affected by the major earthquake that occurred in eastern Japan on March 11. Our deepest condolences go to those who have perished, and we hope for a swift recovery of affected communities in the area.

 

Our thoughts are with all of our members, their families, friends, and patients whose livelihood and health have been impaired as a result of the damage caused by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami. We at the Japanese Association for Thoracic Surgery would like to offer our sincere wishes for their return to health.

 

 

 

Messages of condolence and support have been received from overseas, and are presented as follows:

Dear administrators of the JATS,

 

Without knowledge of the personal e-mail of my colleagues from Japan I direct to you my message asking you that you to transfer it to the President, the Members of the Council and the all membership of the JATS. I wish to tell you that I feel particularly close to you in these terrible and difficult events that strike your beautiful country.

Here in Europe we admire the courage and the dignity of the Japanese Population and we hope that individually you had not to suffer from these events.

As personal invited guest of the JATS in the past and because of personal ties with some of the Members of the JATS I wanted to let you know my sincere compassion in these days.

 

With best regards,

Francis Fontan MD

Founding Father and first President of the
European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery

A Message from STS President Michael J. Mack, MD
Dear Dr. Colleague,

 

News and television reports have conveyed the horrifying devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11, but the extent of human suffering is unimaginable. As President of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, on behalf of the Society I want to reach out to our fellow STS members in Japan. Our condolences and concerns are with you and the Japanese people in this time of disaster.

I speak for all members when I say that we wish you the strength and courage to prevail in this difficult time.

Please let us know what the Society can do to help our Japanese friends, their families, patients, and countrymen and women in this time of sadness.

 

Sincerely,

Michael J. Mack, MD

Dear Colleague:

 

Your colleagues and friends at the ACCP and The CHEST Foundation are saddened and concerned by the news of the recent earthquake and subsequent tsunamis that are affecting Japan and the Pacific Rim.

We hold you, your families, and your friends in our thoughts as you begin to recover from this disaster. We will continue to monitor the situation along with you and are prepared to offer assistance and support.

 

Sincerely,

David Gutterman, MD, FCCP

President, American College of Chest Physicians