At a meeting held in the Magaliesberg mountains in 2005, a group of surgeons and gastroenterologists decided to establish a multidisciplinary organ-based grouping related to hepatic, pancreatic, and biliary diseases.

• To promote understanding of the causes, investigation and treatment of disorders of the liver, pancreas and biliary tree;
• To encourage the interchange of clinical and scientific knowledge among doctors in related disciplines working in this field;
• To study any relevant problems that affect the liver, pancreas and biliary tract and to facilitate collaborative research into the factors that lead to disease of these organs and their prevention;
• To foster friendship among clinicians and scientists in different disciplines involved in hepatic, pancreatic, and biliary disease;
• To strive towards the highest ethical standards in this field of endeavour;
• To foster education and career development in the field through an identifiablefunding mechanism;
• To establish a forum to facilitate the collation and analysis of data, discussion of problem cases, and voluntary audit of management and outcomes.

We have elected to establish an independent association that will be linked to the European Hepato-Pancreatico-Biliary Association. We already have a representative on the executive committee of that association.

What is unique about this association is the broad multidisciplinary nature of its members, which includes: General Surgery, Gastroenterology, Radiology, Medical Oncology and Radiation therapy, Transplant Surgery, Anaesthesiology and Pathology.

The HPBASA works in close cooperation with the various discipline-based associations and societies.