Interview with new EFP president

Professor Blanco, what are your main aims for the European Federation of Periodontology (EFP) during your presidency?

I am looking forward to an extremely interesting year for the EFP and the whole perio team. We must continue to work with other professional organisations that can help us to improve our global positioning – with institutions like the European Union and World Health Organisation.

Also, the number of EFP accredited postgraduate programmes in periodontology needs to increase. At present there are 12 such programmes in 10 countries. We must also share the knowledge of all the European national societies involved in research projects, including epidemiology studies, periodontitis and systemic links and genetic studies.

Finally, we have a fundamental need for improved communications and a strong media campaign to help us project our vision and expertise. We need the media – specialist and non-specialist – to help us create a meaningful link between the perio team and general public.