1st International Multidisciplinary Connected Congress on COVID-19 Update

03 June 2020

HYGEIA and Metropolitan Hospital, members of the Hellenic Healthcare Group, in partnership with Research Group “Cancer-Hemostasis-Angiogenesis”, INSERM U-938, Sorbonne University, Paris (France), headed by Hematology Professor Grigoris Gerotziafas, are organizing the:

“1st International Multidisciplinary Connected Congress on COVID-19 Update”

The online international congress is addressed to healthcare professionals and will be held on 9-11 June 2020 (3 days) from 18:00 to 20:30 (local Greek time).

The International Organizing Committee consists of:

1. Meletios-Athanasios Dimopoulos, Professor of Hematology and Rector, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
2. Achilleas Gravanis, Professor of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete
3. Alexandros Tselepis, Professor of Biochemistry, University of Ioannina
4. Anna Falanga, Professor of Hematology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy
5. Saskia Middeldorp Professor of Internal Medicine, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
6. Zoubida Tazi Mezalek, Professor of Internal Medicine, University Mohamed V, Morocco
7. Ismail Elalamy, Professor of Hematology, Sorbonne University, Paris, France
8. Essam Aboelnazar, Professor of Surgery, Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
9. Alex Spyropoulos, Professor of Internal Medicine, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, New York, USA

By adopting social distancing measures early on and following them consistently, Greece managed to overcome the first phase of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic with relatively small loss of lives compared to other European countries.

However, the COVID-19 disease will continue to be a major medical problem, irrespective of the epidemic phases of SARS-CoV-2.

The COVID-19 disease is a vascular/blood disorder marked by severe hypercoagulability, and risk of disseminated intravascular coagulation and thrombosis. Currently, the international scientific community recognizes that anticoagulation therapy forms a significant part of treatment for COVID-19 patients.

As of January 2020, scientific knowledge with regard to management of the epidemic, pathogenesis of the COVID-19 disease, and diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 patients has been increasing exponentially, permitting us to feel optimistic as to the near future.

Countries such as Greece, which have successfully managed to overcome the major epidemic wave, can serve as an example for formulating effective epidemiological strategies to limit the spread of the epidemic in the near future, but also for developing health policies at primary healthcare level for the prompt and effective management of patients with mild COVID-19 symptoms.

Countries such as Italy, France, Spain and the USA, which were at the eye of the storm, have gained valuable experience in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with severe COVID-19 infection, have the necessary diagnostic and therapeutic algorithms in place, and have advanced their clinical research.

Lastly, China, as the country where the epidemic broke out, combines the traits of both categories.

This is the experience and knowledge that will be presented during the “1st International Multidisciplinary Connected Congress on COVID-19 Update” by leading scientists from Greece, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, the USA and China.

The “1st International Multidisciplinary Connected Congress on COVID-19 Update” has three aims:

1. To bring the Greek medical community in touch with the most renowned experts, currently at the forefront of codifying the knowledge to address the epidemic and COVID-19 patients, so that Greek colleagues from primary to tertiary care can immediately start preparing for the next phase of the epidemic and the disease.
2. To help create quality educational material (from the videos of the lectures), which will be made available to the competent committees and scientific bodies of the country.
3. To showcase Greece as the center and an example for the international medical community in developing a comprehensive strategy for dealing with the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic and providing training on the treatment of patients with COVID-19, and to make it a hub for countries that have not yet been affected by the epidemic (e.g. the Balkans, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa).

The congress will be chaired by Mr Grigoris Gerotziafas.