The world´s leading pediatric diabetes congress is held in Spain for the first time

From 26th to 29th October, the Valencia Conference Centre will be hosting the 42nd Annual Conference of the International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD), the world’s leading international event in this specialist subject, which will bring an economic impact of over €2.2 million to the city of Valencia.

ISPAD brings together pediatricians and educators who are experts in the field of diabetes mellitus in children and adolescents. On this occasion, it is holding its main annual congress in Spain for the first time, bringing over 1,500 diabetes professionals from over 60 countries to Valencia. This venue was chosen after visits to two major capitals like Melbourne (Australia) and Toronto (Canada) in 2014 and 2015.

The 42nd ISPAD Annual Conference will be chaired by Dr. Luis Castaño, a pediatrician at the Biocruces Institute, a professor at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) and a diabetes researcher at the CIBERDEM, who has highlighted that over 50 conferences will be given on all areas of diabetes, and has also emphasised the importance of this forum as a place to share the latest advances in the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric and adolescent diabetes.

This multi-disciplinary event will be attended by pediatricians, endocrinologists, diabetologists, educators, nutritionists and psychologists, and is characterised by its high social impact at world level, with over 90% of delegates coming from abroad. In Spain, the incidence of diabetes in the under 15s is average in world terms, with between 11 and 25 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the different Spanish regions.

However, warnings are becoming more and more frequent about the major increase in obesity in children. In some developed countries, this has meant a sharp increase in type 2 diabetes in adolescents, which had been unknown up to now in this age group.

Dr. Luis Castaño, the Congress’ Chairman, has pointed out that “several studies have concluded that over 40% of Spanish children between six and nine are overweight or obese, thus making Spain one of the European countries with the highest child obesity rates”.

This major event is supported by the main Spanish medical societies: the Spanish Pediatric Endocrinology Society, the Spanish Diabetes Society, the CIBERDEM Diabetes Biomedical Research Centre and the CiberObn Obesity Biomedical Research Centre, as well as different local and national associations of people affected by diabetes.

The scientific programme centres on two main lines of work, which are the two areas which characterise ISPAD, and have given the congress its title “Education and New Technologies: Enhancing care in Diabetes”. On one hand, education is seen as the cornerstone of the self-control required of patients who suffer this disease, and on the other, the use of new technologies, whose application has become one of the main areas of progress in recent years in controlling and treating the disease, is seen as the way forward.

In line with the venue’s sustainability policy, the 42nd ISPAD Annual Conference is a paper-free congress. There are no printed programmes or bag which means less weight to carry, less paper to file afterwards and less waste generated. To ensure this objective can be met, the technological capabilities of the Valencian building are essential so that the tools designed by ISPAD can be used effectively. These tools include an iplanner, a powerful app, a pocket programme in the accreditation cover and free online access to all the presentations, abstracts and e-posters after the congress finishes.