Welcome to the
International Menopause Society

Welcome to the website of the International Menopause Society (IMS). Today, websites are the windows through which experts as well as lay persons can seek information and knowledge. The IMS was established in 1978 and was the first menopause society. At the time, it signalled to the medical community that there is a need to address specific gender-based and menopause-based issues, which until then had not been regarded as important. In the following years, many national and regional menopause societies have been formed, but the IMS remains the only society with a global responsibility and, as such, is a leading resource to which the media as well as the medical professionals look for opinion and guidance. This has been particularly important in recent years when the merits of hormone therapy have come under intense debate. With most of the key opinion leaders as members, a strong Executive Board representing all areas of the world, and over 40 national and regional menopause societies affiliated to the IMS, we are in a unique position to provide education, comment and support.

Our activities are both scientific (the triennial World Congress, focused workshops, position statements and press releases, and Climacteric – the Society’s journal), and educational (the World School for the Study of Menopause or WSSM, an Educational Slide Kit, and a pocketbook on practical guidelines for managing menopausal women – Health Plan for the Adult Woman).

We hope that you will wish to join our Society and help to further the well-being and quality of life of adult women and men. We hope also to see you at one of our meetings.

Please explore the website to learn more about the IMS. Any comments, suggestions or questions will be welcome.

Dr David Sturdee
IMS President

Aims of the IMS

The aims of the IMS are to promote knowledge, study and research on all aspects of aging in men and women; to organize, prepare, hold and participate in international meetings and congresses on menopause and climacteric; and to encourage the interchange of research plans and experience between individual members. The Society is a non-profit association, within the meaning of the Swiss Civil Code. It was created in 1978 in Jerusalem during the Menopause Congress. In addition to organizing congresses, symposia, and workshops, the IMS publishes a quarterly newsletter and owns its own journal: Climacteric, the Journal of the International Menopause Society, published by Informa Healthcare. The IMS has two sub-organs: CAMS, the Council of Affiliated Menopause Societies, and the WSSM, the World School for the Study of the Menopause.

The Council of Affiliated Menopause Societies (CAMS)

CAMS was established as a continuing and tangible line of two-way communication between the Board of the Society and the affiliated and non-affiliated national and regional menopause societies throughout the world. It is instrumental in disseminating the views and opinions of the IMS among the menopause societies and acts as an advisory body to the Board with respect to policy matters and strategy definition, and any other assignments that the IMS Board find appropriate. In addition to facilitating inter-society relationships, CAMS is ideally positioned to carry out pan-society research; all projects are to be submitted to and approved by the IMS Board.

The World School for the Study of Menopause

WSSM is the educational section of the IMS, a non-profit organization created with the aim of promoting knowledge among health-care providers on menopause-related issues and providing the highest-quality, most accurate scientific information. The WSSM provides courses, educational programs and lectures in the field of adult women’s health and menopause. The School collaborates, on invitation, with national and regional menopause societies, offering to participate in the organization of programs in cooperation with the societies, to provide international speakers, and to enrich interchange of ideas and experiences.