Academic Director Address 2021
Dear Colleagues,
More than one year ago, in December 2019, the fist symptomatic cases of COVID-19 were reported in Wuhan, China. Since then, no matter where we live in the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused tremendous changes to our everyday life. Across the globe our healthcare systems were not ideally prepared to deal with this massive crisis, an unpredictable, large-scale health challenge that necessitated urgent mobilization of resources and has affected the whole population, but most severely older people and in particular those with frailty and multimorbidity.
Already from the beginning of the pandemic, EuGMS made efforts to cope with this health crisis adjusting in real-time and providing professional and scientific advices to geriatricians across Europe. At the moment that our scientific programme for Athens 2020 congress was practically completed, due to the outbreak of the pandemic, EuGMS took a brave and visionary decision to reshuffle and prepare completely new online programme of the 16th EuGMS e-congress mainly dedicated to COVID-19 pandemic.
During the e-congress the most prominent experts addressed different aspects of care for older people during the pandemic (epidemiological, organisational, clinical, therapeutical, societal and regulatory). In addition, our special interest and task and finish groups also had the opportunity to present and disseminate their recent results. Besides the live streamed part of the programme, exclusively dedicated to COVID-19 pandemic, the pre-recorded on-demand sessions offered the programme on common issues in geriatric medicine, discussing about challenges and responses in research which in turn inspired new or validated existing standards of practices in the professional field.
This new online format allowed us to stay mutually connected despite physical distance. At the same time this online format offered a unique opportunity to spread geriatric expertise and attitudes across Europe and beyond and in particular in those countries where geriatric medicine is still emerging. It was our great pleasure to spend the three days from 7th to 9th October 2020 with 2023 colleagues from 62 countries.
The organisation and the great success of our e-congress in the extraordinary circumstances is undoubtedly a new starting point both for new research and professional perspectives and innovation in a completely new format. The three days of the congress were not only full of the high-level scientific presentations and fruitful discussions but also full of positive energy and emotions bridging the gap of physical and geographic distance.
The congress left an unforgettable impression on all the participants. I expect also that all colleagues who were present at our congress can further strengthen cooperation and enhance friendship, so that we can make joint efforts in pushing forward the further progress of geriatric medicine across Europe.
As a society, EuGMS showed resilience and vision in providing guidance to healthcare systems to be reconfigured in order to approve their ability to handle unpredictable large -scale crisis like COVID and assure an adequate health care for older people while remaining sustainable.
I sincerely hope that we can start 2021 with fresh insights and new joint achievements. I wish you all, on behalf of the entire Academic board, a year full of renewed energy, creativity, optimism, inspiration, resilience and courage. And above all, good health!
I look forward to meeting you again in at the 17th EuGMS congress from the 11th to 13th October next year!
Professor Mirko Petrovic
EuGMS Academic Director (2018-2021)
