For medical community, the COVID-19 pandemic has become a key challenge of 2020. Despite all efforts of doctors, so far it is not possible to stop the rapid spread of the virus, and the controlled course of disease and provision of effective care to patients come to the fore. This requires the introduction of modern interdisciplinary approaches to the therapy of COVID-19. In this regard, Akrikhin as a socially responsible company in partnership with the National Scientific Society of Infectologists (NSSI) and other health institutions has developed and initiated a series of free scientific and educational online lectures with the participation of leading medical experts.
The programme composed of five educational webinars aims to improve the knowledge of practitioners about the course of coronavirus infection, relationship with co-morbidities and modern science based therapies. It is known that COVID-19 can concurrently affect several areas and systems of the human body provoking the complications and exacerbation of various chronic diseases. Therefore, the project is based on an interdisciplinary approach to the problem. Along with infectologists, the representatives of other specialties, such as cardiologists, pulmonologists, paediatricians and dermatovenerologists, are actively involved in the project.
The first webinars took place on 20 and 26 November. The series of lectures was opened by the Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Alexander Gorelov, the Deputy Director for Research of the FBSI “The Rospotrebnadzor Central Research Institute of Epidemiology” who focused on the problem in terms of infectology, talking about the causative agent, pathogenesis and current epidemiological data. Aleksey Shevchenko, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor of the Department of Cardiology at the Faculty of Continuing Medical Education, the Rostov State Medical University, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, raised the issue from cardiology perspective. He spoke about the existing groups of cardiovascular risk, mechanisms for the development and aggravation of cardiovascular diseases in COVID-19, as well as methods of therapy for such patients that proved their effectiveness in practice. The webinar that took place on 26 November was continued by experts, such as Natalya Pshenichnaya, Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases at the Rostov State Medical University Advanced Training and Professional Development Faculty, the Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor; and Sergey Gilyarevsky, the Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor at the Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapy of the Russian Medical Academy of Continuous Professional Training. They focused on epidemiology, treatment and co-morbidities in a new clinical reality.
The next webinars to be held on 10, 15 and 18 December will be attended by specialists from the N.N. Burdenko State Medical University, Research Institute of Clinical Cardiology, A.L. Myasnikov National Medical Research Centre of Cardiology, Kazan State Medical Academy, North-Western State Medical University named after I.I. Mechnikov.
More than 1,200 doctors have already attended the first two webinars of the cycle.
The Coronavirus Infection COVID-19 is a new phenomenon for modern medicine, and it is obvious that its study and search for most effective therapy will take a lot of time. However, today we can say with confidence that the organization of such educational programmes contributes to the expansion of doctors' knowledge and encourages the exchange of experience, which is especially important given the effectiveness of interdisciplinary approach. Thanks to our cooperation with the National Scientific Society of Infectologists and the development of a series of webinars with the participation of prominent specialists, doctors throughout the country can gain access to the unique expertise accumulated by leading Russian and foreign professionals,
- said Denis Chetverikov, the President of Akrikhin.
A series of online lectures on COVID-19 therapy has started on 20 November and will last until 18 December. The webinar programme is broadcasted on the “Zdorovoe Obrazovanie” (Healthy Education) portal. To access the webinars, participants have to register on the portal. The webinars are free and feature professional content, and are intended for healthcare community only.