Welcome to the 5^th World Bronchiectasis Conference

Dear colleagues and Friends,

It is our great pleasure to invite you to take part in the 5^th World Bronchiectasis & NTM Conference that will be held in Prague from June 30^th to July 2^nd, 2022.

During this biennal appointment for the World Bronchiectasis & NTM Conference,  that became a tradition, the small but very committed world community of scientists and experts in the field will meet again to exchange and learn about the novelties in diagnosis, management and treatment of these complex pathologies which are still often misdiagnosed and even more often overlooked .

While the knowledge in regards to the World Respiratory Medicine, Infectious Diseases and related Specialists is improving and while we advance in the understanding of the physiopathology, epidemiology and management outcomes, the need to share knowledge and especially experience increase and the demand for further research emerges.

Within Bronchiectasis, new definition and new research studies are providing interesting insights about the inflammatory mechanism, while on NTM side, the publication of ATS/ERS/ESCMID/IDSA Guidelines in 2020 and their update expected in 2022 provide new tools to improve the management of patients.

Furthermore the need to have the  patients managed by  a multidisciplinary team to ensure the best outcome possible, creates the urge within the professionals to develop or improve soft skills, in order  to be effectively  able to communicate different points of view and collaborate on complex and sometimes very difficult cases where age, personal situation and comorbidities can change the approach of the pathology and the management of the patient. These skills will be the object of the training held during the pre-congress round tables and will be illustrated in the main programme by real – life cases.

As always the programme includes the possibility for young researchers and clinicians to arise out of the international context by presenting their valuable works during the Rising Stars session, while the most interesting abstracts presented by the scientific community will be included in the oral presentation session or in the poster presentation sessions.

Joining forces, exchanging clinical experiences, sharing data and tools, to enforce the network of active experts in the field are the main goals of the conference and therefore we hope to meet you in person in Prague (or have you remotely connected) starting from the 30^{th of} June!