The 12th Serbian Congress on Diabetes was held virtually in Belgrade, on March 20-25, 2022, and was attended internationally by 1375 participants. The Congress traditionally involved clinicians and researchers, nurses and people living with diabetes (PwD). During the opening ceremony, Dr Niti Pall, IDF Europe Chair, emphasised the importance of the meeting, which brought together all members of the diabetes community in Serbia.
The scientific program consisted of 21 symposia on relevant diabetes-related topics such as diabetes and COVID-19, the centenary of insulin and modern diabetes care, the relationship between cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes, recommendations for diagnosis and treatment of type 2 diabetes, the health care system and diabetes, and primary and secondary prevention of diabetes. The Congress also included two special programmes “Nurse as Part of the Diabetes Team”, organised and dedicated to diabetes nurses, and “How to Live with Diabetes”, conceptualised and implemented by PwD. A total of 82 lectures were delivered, of which 22 were conducted by international lecturers, 46 by experts in the field of diabetes and endocrinology, and 14 by experts in other relevant fields.
The Congress was organised under the auspices of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia. As main organiser of the Congress, the Serbian Diabetes Society was supported by the Diabetes Committee, Endocrine Section, Serbian Medical Association, the Faculty of Medicine in Belgrade, the Section for Multidisciplinary Diabetes Research of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Serbian Atherosclerosis Association and the Serbian Association for the Study of Obesity. The President of the Scientific and Organising Committee was Prof Nebojsa M. Lalic, IDF Europe Chair-Elect.
The special program “How to Live with Diabetes”, was organised by the Diabetes Association of Serbia, Member Association of IDF Europe. The main lecture was held by Dr Niti Pall, presenting IDF Europe priorities and activities as well as the opportunities for diabetes associations to join the organisation. Further topics concerned the activities of the Diabetes Association of Serbia as a national organisation of PwD, the role of psychologists treating PwD with COVID- 19 and the position of the Associaiton in the international diabetes community. The presenters of this programme were Aleksandar Opačić, President of the Association, Uroš Bogdanović, IDF Europe Young Leader in Diabetes, Dušanka Božović, psychologist, and Nevena Spasić, Association member.
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