Danish Society for Allergology (DSA)
Mission: The Danish Society for Allergology is a scientific society with the aims of gathering allergology specialists and other people engaged in the field of allergology at scientific meetings, and to supporting and working for the development of basal and clinical
Founded: 1946
From the founding of DSA the aims have been very similar to WAO's purpose. The Danish Society for Allergology comprises medical doctors, researchers in Allergology, nurses and people from the industry with an interest in Allergology. The Danish Health Board abolished the specialty as a distinct entity against the advice of our society in 2004. Since then, the Danish Society for Allergology has established a 2-year sub-specialization in Allergology, and the pediatricians in Denmark already have a 3-year sub-specialization, according to UEMS (the European Union of Medical Specialists). The society organizes a two-day annual meeting in August and also a thematic winter meeting. The society has a home page (in Danish). The society tries to promote the importance of clinical allergy and allergy research in the public opinion and in health politics and offers advice to the Danish Health Board in issues regarding allergy.
History
The Danish Society for Allergy Research was founded in 1946. Other Nordic countries also had allergy societies and collaboration with them led to one of the first European scientific journals, Acta Allergologica (later Allergy). Given that in other European countries and in the US allergists were treating immunological diseases, the name of the society was changed in 1966 to the Danish Society for Allergology and Immunology. However, in Denmark immunological diseases were primarily treated by other specialties and, as a consequence, the name was changed again in 1985 to the Danish Society for Allergology. In the early years, it was a sister society of the Society for Immunology but, since 1992, it has been an independent society, and there is a separate Danish Society for Clinical Immunology.