IAPP and the CONCEPT OF THE 2nd CONGRESS

Main themes of interest of the IAPP, should on a long-term and as broad as possible, address various relevant aspects of children's health, health risks for children and adolescents, as well as the potential long-term impact and consequences on their health and quality of life once they grow up.

In the focus of the IAPP and in particular, the 2nd Congress, is clearly the environmental protection, an indisputably large and fast-growing global and local challenge, embedded in all layers of the society. Clinical medicine, biomedical science and the health care system are an extremely important, in a sense a central, but by no means the only domain in which the effects and consequences of quality or poor-quality care for the environment are encountered.

When it comes to health, health risks and their prevention, as well as the growth of children, our knowledge and approach to this topic requires constant improvement. Primary prevention, as an area in which all aspects of this environmental issues are acquired and intertwined, certainly requires a multidisciplinary approach. On the one hand, colleagues from various fields of clinical and preventive medicine, as well as those in the field of biomedical sciences, an on the other hand, increasingly also experts dealing with ecology, condition and protection of air, water and soil, as essential elements of the environment, and others relevant domains.

For all the above reasons, as well as many others, we consider it important that, as the International Association of Preventive Pediatrics – IAPP, at the national and also regional level, for countries of the former Yugoslavia and the Southeast Europe, launch an initiative and provide a permanent platform for an integrated approach to this issue and dynamic exchange of knowledge, experiences and information between very different professions such as pediatricians and geologists, phytopathologists and epidemiologists or ecologists and pharmacologists.

This will promote a higher level of understanding for this wide and important domain, better define the place of each of us in developing approaches and operational activities to make an even greater contribution to primary prevention and health of the population, especially infants, children and adolescents.

We believe that this innovative approach is needed and will benefit the regional professional community, representatives of all related industries, governments and the NGO sector, the media and, to a large extent, the entire population, at every stage of life, especially in the family and parenting planning phase.

2nd IAPP Congress thematic symposia are, as it has been the case previously, typically designed in the following way;

  • Format of plenary meetings for a wide audience in the first symposium sessions and, as a focused meeting, for narrower, already targeted stakeholders’ groups, in parallel sessions, afterwards.
  • The program of the Symposium comprehensively deals with the proposed topics, and contains basic scientific (anatomical, physiological, pharmacological and others), clinical (diagnostics, therapy, care), preventive, psycho-emotional, motivational, sociological and other aspects.
  • Topics are processed and presented by healthcare professional, professions related to environmental protection, representatives of industry, parents and sports associations, as well as patients themselves or users of certain services. A workshop for acquiring certain practical skills is planned within symposium, as appropriate.
  • Symposia should propose certain conclusions/recommendations for a specific area (algorithms, clinical pathways, integrated pathways/processes for specific conditions, conference consensus) and the like.

The safety and welfare of our lecturers and participants, as well as support of all involved in the organization of the 2nd IAPP Congress is still our top priority.

Given the current situation, it seems that the most suitable option is to organize the Congress in an ONLINE HYBRID format, which is proving to be a very successful practice in organizing international and regional conference events over the past few months, with the ONSITE presence of organizers, invited lecturers and panelists and an ONLINE broadcast of the entire event to participants and all other involved. We will monitor the situation and adjust the model of the Congress organization to the situation on the ground, and inform you accordingly.

Aware of the challenges of preparation and implementation of the Congress of this size and complexity in ONLINE HYBRID format, we are fully committed to the success of this endeavor, of wider regional significance, as one of the key conference events in the field of continuing education in 2021.

We are looking forward to meeting you online at the end of the year.