Management report Panamanian Society of Pediatrics 2021-present

Abstract

The challenges posed in recent years at the health level as a result of the virus that caused the Covid-19, demanded a greater presence of the entire scientific community worldwide and Panama did not escape that reality, from the Panamanian Society of Pediatrics (SPP) we are pleased for all the work and contribution made to the country in recent years.

Since we assumed the presidency of the SPP in the year 2021, we have focused on continuous training and strengthening the capacities of our associates through a series of courses, teaching days, seminars and workshops, not only in person, but also virtually.
For example, we achieved a wide participation in the virtual courses we offered, which were focused on pediatric vaccination, we also offered a seminar-workshop related to Childhood Obesity and we accompanied the Social Security Fund in the neonatal resuscitation course, among others.
However, our most important event is undoubtedly our annual pediatric congress, which brings together a wide range of national and international specialists in pediatrics with the main objective of updating knowledge, improving skills, analyzing current challenges, learning new methods of diagnosis and care, as well as considering the future of pediatric care.

During the last two years each congress has been received with great success by the more than 500 participants that have attended each one and we have no doubt that they have fulfilled the expectations of the attendees.

On the other hand, we have strived to be a Pediatric Society that is directly involved in the national activity, trying, as our main objective establishes, to be a full defender of the rights of children and adolescents in the country.

We have been an advisory body for the authorities, proposing concrete solutions related to the need to strengthen the primary care network, promote good nutrition and healthy lifestyles, among others, which have contributed to decision-making in favor of the child population.
In fact, we restructured our website and have used the various digital platforms available to us to make a strong statement on a variety of issues that directly affect the population we serve.

Thus, for example, we have urged the authorities to take actions that really protect children from being victims of child abuse in all its forms (physical, sexual, verbal, etc.), we have exposed the need to promote programs to prevent teenage pregnancies and at the same time to make a greater effort to educate on the subject so that the corresponding complaints can be made and the rights of the victims can be restored.
To recover vaccination coverage and orient parents regarding the benefits of completing their children's vaccination schedules has also been another of the campaigns in which we have invested our efforts.
As a Society we have worked in parallel in the unification of our associates, the opening for more colleagues to join our guild. We currently have 320 active members; however, we will not rest until we get every pediatrician in our country to join our association and together we can guarantee the best care for our patients.

We still have many challenges ahead of us, for example, we have to work on the development and harmonization of protocols for the management of different medical conditions to ensure that diagnoses are as accurate as possible and treatments are implemented in a timely manner.

Another aspect that we would like to improve is to have the technical means at our disposal to make the process of affiliation, admission or update to the Pediatric Society more agile, simple and comfortable.
We are fully aware that, without investing in improving the skills and abilities of our members, we would not be a true association dedicated to providing you with the best. As such, we will continue to encourage learning and skill enhancement to meet the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has left us with.

Finally, we hope to continue building bridges and working with diverse societies, organizations, universities, companies and governments to achieve our goal of closing the inequality gap in the comprehensive care of children throughout the country, and for this we will insist on participation through every space, ceasing to be spectators and thus accompanying the integral development of each infant.