The Conference Centre plays host to 1,000 primary care paediatricians in Valencia

The National Congress of the Spanish Outpatient and Primary Care Paediatric Society returns to Valencia after 25 years. The Chairman of the Organising Committee for this 28th Congress is the Valencian paediatrician, Fernando García-Sala Viguer. The event aims to bring together around 1,000 specialists over three days from 23rd October at the Valencia Conference Centre.

The venue will be the backdrop for the annual meeting of the Spanish Outpatient and Primary Care Paediatric Society (SEPEAP) which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. The society currently has over 3,000 members and over 900 paediatric housemen who, through their work in health centres and private surgeries, promote children’s health outside the hospital environment.

A wide variety of simultaneous events will be taking place during the congress, including the initiative entitled “Save a Life”, in which almost a hundred Valencian children and young people will be given a theoretical and practical first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) class, so they can take action should they come across a similar situation. In addition, some of the best Spanish and foreign paediatricians will be taking an in-depth look at the controversial Spanish vaccination calendar. Twelve simultaneous workshops and debates, led by leading figures in the world of paediatrics, will also be staged. These will centre on the latest innovations for treating children in areas such as adolescence, asthma, sleep, and child obesity, as well as emerging issues in the family environment, such as adoption and gender violence.

Other leading figures taking part in the event include Carmelo Angulo Barturen, the Chairman of the Spanish Committee of UNICEF, the body to which the congress organisers will be donating part of the event’s registration fees to vaccinate thousands of children against polio in disadvantaged countries.

The staging of this event has placed the Conference Centre at the heart of paediatrics once again, with this congress joining a long list of previous events including domestic meetings such as the 15th Spanish Paediatric Association Congress (AEP), and the National AEP Vaccination Conference, as well as international events such as the 1st European Paediatric Respiratory Allergy Meeting and the 12th International Congress on Paediatric Pulmonology.

Specialist science and health sector events account for the majority of the Valencia Conference Centre’s congress activities. In 2014 alone, over 75% of the congresses held at the venue are related to this sector, and almost 70% of these meetings are international events. The impact of these meetings for the city is huge, with this type of congresses generating over 40,000 overnight stays in Valencia, and an economic input of around €25 million in 2014.