In addition to administrative support for research and programs developed by Fiocruz, in the most diverse fields, Fiotec provides logistical and financial management services to national and international events promoted by the Foundation's units. The Emerging and Persistent Global Health Threats Symposium, organized in partnership with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/National Institutes of Health of the United States (NIAID-NIH), was one of such events, held in April in Rio de Janeiro. The meeting brought together names such as Anthony Fauci, the main American epidemiologist and leader of the country's task force against the Covid-19 pandemic, and Celina Turchi, a researcher at Fiocruz Pernambuco (Aggeu Magalhães Institute).
The support provided by Fiotec was highly praised by one of the organizers of the symposium, researcher Leonardo Carvalho, from the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (IOC/Fiocruz). He highlighted the many demands and work fronts that were under the responsibility of Fiotec's professionals, who acted, according to Leonardo, with great commitment and professionalism during the months that preceded and that followed the event. The researcher also celebrates the success of the symposium, which exceeded his audience expectations, both in person and online. This year, it took place simultaneously with the 16th National Malaria Research Meeting, which celebrated the 15th anniversary of World Malaria Day in its agenda.
The simultaneous holding of the events was a key point in its organization. According to Leonardo, the idea was to balance the debate between emerging diseases and those that have afflicted humanity for decades or even centuries. Therefore, in addition to the global actions to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, the two days of conversation gave space to topics such as arboviruses, HIV, dengue, and malaria itself. Alongside Celina Turch, responsible for establishing the relationship between zika and microcephaly in babies, Beatriz Grinssztejn, from the Evandro Chagas National Institute of Infectious Diseases (INI/Fiocruz), presented the scenario of HIV infection in Latin America, in addition to the planning for the implementation of Injectable Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEp) here in Brazil.
Fiotec's Project Analyst, Thaissa de Souza, was one of the professionals involved in the efforts to hold the symposium. “It was intense work, involving numerous meetings with IOC and NIH teams, in addition to colleagues from Fiotec's Project Management itself and our Logistics sector. I'm sure that this initial work was the basis for the success we achieved with the symposium,” she celebrates.
With information from Fiocruz News Agency (AFN).
