Ladies and Gentlemen!

I welcome you cordially to the XIV-th Conference of the Polish League Against Epilepsy, "Epilepsy 2000".

This year is very special because it closes a millennium and therefore, more than other years, it encourages us to reflect on the development of epileptology - the roads it has traveled, the point we have reached and the road we shall take. This explains why we have decided to choose such a topic for our conference and why we have invited the leading experts in our field, in Poland and abroad, to present the key topics to us. This conference will be highlighted by the International Symposium on Antiepileptic Drugs - Combination Therapy and Interactions, the VIII-th Symposium on Epilepsy and Pregnancy and the Satellite Symposium: The Legal and Social Aspects of Epilepsy.

This conference is also special in that it marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of our participation in the work of the International League Against Epilepsy, one of the oldest international medical organizations which celebrated its ninetieth anniversary last year.

Our long-standing co-operation with the International League Against Epilepsy is also marked by the awarding of the title of Honorary Member of the Polish League Against Epilepsy to a number of outstanding epileptologists. During this conference, at the Gala Dinner, I shall have the pleasure to award the diploma of a Honorary Member to two eminent epileptologists from Holland and Germany.

As this century comes to a close we may confidently say that, because the advancements in the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy have been so considerable and because the scale of the problem of epilepsy is so large, epileptology is now emerging as a distinct discipline, the discipline of putting the achievements of contemporary science to full use for the good of the epileptic patient. To this end the Polish League Against Epilepsy has developed criteria for the Certificate of Epileptology, a document acknowledging the mastery of diagnosis and treatment of epileptic patients.

During our Gala Dinner I shall have the honour to award such certificates to further epileptologists, members of the Polish League Against Epilepsy.

I would like to end this welcome address with my special words of appreciation for the Organizing Committee who contributed with such sacrifice and so efficiently to the preparation of this conference. I also wish to thank my Respected Colleagues from the Scientific Committee, the pharmaceutical firms for their active contribution to the programme of this conference.

I wish you many interesting discussions and hope you have a pleasant stay in Warsaw.

Professor Jerzy Majkowski, M.D.

Chairman