The International Conference on Social Pediatrics and Children’s Rights and the 17th State of the Art Conference on Adolescent Health and Medicine were held in Athens on 10-12 October at the historic building of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA).
Both conferences were co-organized by the International Society for Social Pediatrics and Child Health (ISSOP) and the Greek Society of Adolescent Medicine/Health (GSAHM), in collaboration with UNES CO IITE, WHO, LIFELINE Hellas and THALPOS non-governmental organizations.
At the opening of the conference, the participants were welcomed by the Minister of Social Cohesion and Family Sofia Zacharaki, the Secretary General for Higher Education of the Ministry of Education Nikolaos Papaioannou, the Rector of NKUA Professor Gerasimos Siasos, the UNESCO Advisor on Health Education Tigran Yepoyan, as well as the President of ISSOP Professor Jeffrey Goldhagen and the President of GSAHM Professor Artemis Tsitsika.
Professor Didier Jourdan, Chair-holder of the UNESCO Chair in Global Health and Education, gave a presentation on the importance of and approaches to school health education. The opening ceremony was hosted by Ms. Alexia Koulouri, the Director of Information of Parliament TV.
The presentations and discussions, held over three days at 4 plenary sessions, 4 pre-conference seminars, 9 symposia and round tables, focused on the risks and threats to the health and well-being of new generations around the world, affected by conflicts, climate change and other issues.
Fifteen teams of young people from all over Greece presented their projects developed within the SELMA Hackathon, aimed at empowering people with disabilities.
More than 300 participants from Greece and other countries engaged with internationally renowned experts and leading national specialists to discuss issues of physical, reproductive and mental health of adolescents, social pediatrics, and protection of the rights of young patients, prevention of violence against children, bullying and sexualized cyberbullying among adolescents.
47 research papers presented orally as posters, plenary lectures and round table discussions addressed prevention of substance abuse and suicide among young people, obesity, other health conditions, nutrition, vaccination, the ways in which children and young people interact with information technology and artificial intelligence and the consequences it may have for their physical and mental health.
Members of the conference youth council voiced the concerns of young people at every round table, workshop and thematic sessions and proposed approaches and solutions that they believed could benefit them.
Dr Angie Margariti Andrews, Honorary President of Lifeline Hellas and Ms Athina Passiou, President of Thalpos – Mental Health spoke at the conference closing ceremony.