Experts in pandemics and global health confirm their participation in the WORLD PANDEMICS FORUM

IFEMA MADRID and JM Congress move forward in the programming for the first World Pandemics Forum (WPF), the new Scientific Congress on public health that will be held from 19 to 20 November at the Exhibition Centre, and that already includes world-class experts whose presentations will focus on the global scope of a pandemic, with the challenge of responding to future crises and turning Madrid and the WPF into an international leader.

In this context, the Congress will offer a varied programme of presentations and discussions that will address a broad range of themes around the early detection of infectious risks, best practices, health and regulatory protocols, hygiene and protection recommendations, investment in prevention tools and technologies, etc. In addition, sustainable development and the impact of alterations to ecosystems will also be discussed. All this will be encompassed in four large content blocks, VACCINE R&D&i; PANDEMIC PREVENTION; SOCIAL & ECONOMIC ASPECTS & MENTAL HEALTH, and ONE HEALTH. Experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), among others, will participate in these blocks, and their conclusions will lay the foundations for a global report to establish protocols for the future.

For the VACCINE R&D&i subject area, the participation of Dr. Adolfo García Sastre, Director of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York (USA) and President of the Forum Scientific Committee, has already been confirmed along with that of Dr. Pedro A. Piedra, a researcher with the Baylor College of Medicine Houston (USA).

The first scheduled presentations on PANDEMIC PREVENTION, will be given by Dr. Sylvie Briand, Director of the Epidemic and Pandemic Diseases Department at the World Health Organization (WHO); Dr. Salvador Almagro-Moreno, a microbiologist with the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Central Florida, Orlando (USA); Dr. Enrique Castro Sánchez, infection research nurse at City, University of London and NIHR (London); Dr. Ricard Ferrer, Head of Intensive Medicine at Vall d'Hebron (Spain); Dr. Pilar Mateo, an international scientist specialising in the control of the vectors that transmit endemic diseases, and Dr. Iñaki Alegria, a paediatrician and Medical Director of the General Rural Hospital in Gambo (Ethiopia).

The block focused on SOCIAL & ECONOMIC ASPECTS & MENTAL HEALTH, WPF, will include presentations given by Dr. Dévora Kestel, Director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse at the World Health Organization (WHO); César Tolosa Tribiño, President of the Third Chamber of the Supreme Court, and Dr. Marta Lima Serrano, Director of the Nursing Department at the University of Seville and leader of the “Care Innovation and Health Determinants” group, among others.

The fourth block, dedicated to the development of the ONE HEALTH concept focused on people, animals and the environment, confirms, among others, presentations from Dr. María Neira, Director of the Department of Public Health and Environment at the World Health Organization (WHO); Dr. Luis Enjuanes, a virologist and research professor with the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and Director of the Coronavirus Laboratory at the National  Biotechnology Centre.

In addition to this cast of experts there will be the support of Dr. Amós García Rojas, President of the Spanish Vaccination Association and Head of the Epidemiology and Prevention Service with the General Directorate of Public Health, in charge of the vice-presidency of the Scientific Committee, and the support, to date, of a score of professional associations and health societies, which make up its Committee of Honour, committed to health care, disease prevention, research, ethics, vaccination and immunology, including the Community Nursing Association (AEC); the Spanish Association of Cardiology Nursing (AEEC); the Spanish Mental Health Nursing Association (AEESME); the Spanish Association of Infection Prevention and Control Nursing (AEEPyCI); the Occupational Nursing Specialists Association (AET); the Spanish Vaccination Association (AEV); the National Research Ethics Committees Association (ANCEI); the National Association of Nursing Directors, (ANDE); the National Nursing and Vaccines Association (ANENVAC); the Spanish Federation of Health Technology Companies, (Fenin); the International Nursing Network (INN); the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, (SEIMC); the Spanish Society for Home Hospitalisation (SEHAD); the Spanish Immunology Society (SEI); the Spanish General and Family Physicians Society (SEMG); the Spanish Clinical, Family and Community Pharmacies Society (SEFAC); the Spanish Internal Medicine Society (SEMI); the Spanish Intensive, Critical Medicine and Coronary Units Society (SEMICYUC); the Spanish Preventive Medicine and Public Health and Hygiene Society (SEMPSHPH), and the Spanish Medical Radiology Society (SERAM). 

The WORLD PANDEMICS FORUM will be completed with a commercial exhibition, networking areas, and spaces for holding workshops, seminars, and corporate events, among others.