Dear Colleagues,
This year we are celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Argentine Journal of Cardiology and the 87th anniversary of the Argentine Society of Cardiology. Also, next October we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Argentine Congress of Cardiology, one of the most important scientific events in the world.
Thanks to the effort and commitment of our cardiology community, we have become a highly respected society all over the world, and I am very proud of the position held by the SAC in various congresses and activities.
In addition to our long-standing bonds with the American College of Cardiology (ACC), the American Heart Association (AHA) and the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), I would like to highlight our close relationship with similar associations in Latin America, in particular, Cardiology Societies from Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Brazil, Venezuela, and Peru. We share the same strategy in terms of our cardiology perspective and the commitment to work together and become stronger in order to boost our academic and research capabilities.
At the end of June, the most remarkable Imaging Congress will be held in our country, and in August we are having our 1st Argentine Congress on Cardiometabolic Prevention and Hypertension.
Our biannual medical training course includes more than 400 students from all over the country and this year is incorporating interns and lecturers from Uruguay and Paraguay Cardiology Societies.
Ten interdistrict conferences have been planned this year. The first of them was held in the province of Formosa and was very successful. It is worth underscoring the effort and spirit of our SAC País District to find a place for our Society across the Argentine territory. Also, in March, the Heart and Women Area organized the 1st LATAM Symposium on Cardiac Obstetrics in La Rioja, with the massive involvement of colleagues, nurses, medicine students and community.
The SAC Young Area has been working hard to gather together young cardiologists taking part in different national and international activities through their own inter-societal bonds. Jointly with the Area of “International Young Members”, they organize scientific activities with young people from the Spanish
Society of Cardiology (SEC), the ACC, the ESC, and Latin America.
Today, Friday April 19th, while writing this letter, I was informed that we have reached 1000 registrations to our different courses. This is the result of the hard work by the Continuous Medical Education office, with the involvement of the various Areas and Councils to develop these courses, which reflects the high level of commitment and academic quality of all members.
WikiCardio has already become a worldwide source of information. Following the agreement signed with the World Heart Federation, it was translated into 49 languages using an artificial intelligence program. We continue to undertake to update and change its contents.
Two international grants, one being part of our agreement with the ACC and the New York Chapter and the other provided by the SAC, will allow the younger members of our community to experience major training at some high-complexity sites abroad. In addition, 6 grants will be given to interns from all over the country taking our Biennial SAC Course, who will be selected according to merit to rotate in their preferred sites in Buenos Aires.
In May we are having a contest to assign 6 grants to the best research works in the country and will also reward the best paper published in the Argentine Journal of Cardiology in the past year.
Thanks to the Press Department, the SAC’s and the Argentine Cardiology Foundation’s views in terms of medical or political subjects have become known to the population.
But I would not like this letter to conclude just with a mention to the outstanding work by all our members.
Someone once told me that creativity and resilience are a good antidote to the despair and depression caused by different variables. I am certain of that, and I believe my colleagues are too. I have provided objective evidence in that respect.
At a time of, and I am quoting here, “reshaping of policies in our country”, there is one policy in particular that was not dealt with before the elections and is not heard of at present: how are we going to care about the Argentinians’ health, and how are we going to boost and upgrade the work done by healthcare workers. These are times of confrontation, and this is often useless for our purposes as citizens and healthcare professionals. We know that health has been deprived from funds for many years, but that seems to be a profitable business for some. Obviously, not for us.
We have two choices: either we continue to complain, or we undertake to at least try to change things. Our Society has decided and confirmed with actions that we are going for the second choice. We have met with the Ministry of Public Health and funders. We are working on health policies together with all cardiology societies and colleges in Argentina, as well as with (more than 50) societies from other fields. We would like to discuss this with all health authoritiesand players in Argentina. We do not want to be mere observers. Our objectives are: 1) to achieve equal access to health care for the entire population; 2) to help create a sustainable system once and for all; and 3) to upgrade our professional work.
We need to achieve these goals as a team. Otherwise, we shall be left with scarcity of healthcare workers and poor professional quality. We would not like for just 2 factors –money and luck– to decide the future of our population in terms of health.
Greetings to all of you.
Víctor Mauro MTSAC
President of the Argentine Society of Cardiology
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