The President of the European Cystic Fibrosis Society (ECFS) in Greece.
Professor Kris De Boeck, Director of the Cystic Fibrosis Centre of Leuven, Belgium and Vice President of the ECFS attended as a speaker at the 3rd Panhellenic Congress on Cystic Fibrosis entitled “Cystic Fibrosis in Greece, Present and Future”, held in Thessaloniki, Greece, on 6-7 June 2014.
The conference was attended by the Hellenic Scientific Community of Cystic Fibrosis, co-organized by the 3rd Pediatric Clinic of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Pulmonary Clinic of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the 1st Pediatric Clinic of the University of Athens – Department of Cystic Fibrosis.
The meeting was moderated by Professors Mr. Chanakas and Mr. Zarogoulides. The presentations examined the challenges of the future and the current situation in Greece, with rich topics from Mrs. Chatziagorou (Hippokratio Hospital of Thessaloniki), respiratory infections in adults by Mr. Kioumi (Papanikolaou Hospital of Thessaloniki), gastroenterological symptoms by Mrs. Luko (Agia Sophia Children’s Hospital of Athens), lung disease in Cystic Fibrosis by Mr. Douros (Attikon Hospital of Athens) and mutations and neonatal screening by Mrs. Tzeti and Mr. Kanavakis respectively, representatives from the “Horemio” Medical Laboratory of Agia Sophia Children’s Hospital of Athens.
On behalf of the patients, Dimitris Kontopidis, Vice President of the Hellenic Cystic Fibrosis Association, presented the structure and strategy implemented by the “Hellenic Society for Fibrotic Cystic Disease”, whose successful interventions have achieved years of demands in the difficult period of economic crisis we are going through, demonstrating the effective role that the strong voice of patients can play, “showing professionalism in volunteerism”, as he said.
In closing, he stressed the need for unified representation and cooperation, a combination that was strongly supported at this conference by both the Hellenic Cystic Fibrosis Association and the Association of Parents and Guardians of Northern Greece for Cystic Fibrosis, who work closely together.
Professor Kris De Boeck, presented the latest developments in Cystic Fibrosis, while Jacqui Van Rens, European Patient Registration Officer, expressed the need for Greece to participate in this effort, which so far only the centres of Northern Greece have responded.
In addition, a closed presentation of the new “registry” platform was made to the doctors from the Cystic Fibrosis monitoring centres in Greece, who pledged their compliance with the guidelines and the participation of our country, both to the European Registration Officer and to the patient representatives Dimitris Kontopidis and Giannis Spinos, who attended and pressed, in their capacity, the competent bodies.
Physiotherapist Myriam Vreys and Dietician Ine Claes delivered excellent seminars and organized workshops, with the participation of health scientists, as well as parents and patients with Cystic Fibrosis, with a large number of participants from all over Greece during both days.
The follow-up was in Sweden, where the 3-day European Cystic Fibrosis Congress 2014 was held in Goteborg, and in the elections of the new ECFS Board of Directors, a new president was elected and appointed Professor Kris De Boeck.
