Sheikh Dr Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani (centre), Director of Public Health at the Ministry of Public Health, during the opening of CUDOS 2019 at QNCC, yesterday. Abdul Basit/The Peninsula
The third edition of Sidra Medicine’s CUDOS - Current Understanding on Diabetes, Obesity, and Related Syndromes - officially opened, yesterday, by highlighting the latest innovations in the treatment and management of diabetes in children.
The Congress held under the theme ‘Innovative Concepts in Modern Diabetes Management’, focuses on paediatric precision medicine, genomics and clinical research, as well as the care and treatment of children and young people with diabetes, obesity, and related syndromes.
Sidra Medicine will highlight the latest treatment methods and their recently founded management procedures during the three-day event at the Qatar National Convention Center.
Dr Ammira Sarah Akil, Sidra Medicine Principal Investigator, Founder of CUDOS Scientific series and Chairperson of CUDOS Congress 2019, said, “Since launching the CUDOS series three years ago, we have seen the conference go from strength to strength as we gather the best minds and thought leaders in the field.”
“Our goal of the congress is to highlight major findings and success stories aimed at improving the lives of children and young people with diabetes, obesity and other related diseases. Our goal is to find solutions impacting both treatment and care for various problems associated with diabetes and its complications,” she said in opening remarks.
Sheikh Dr Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani, Director of Public Health at Ministry Of Public Health; Rashid Al Buenain, Secretary-General of the Qatar Olympic Committee; and several other officials, clinicians, researchers and leaders in the health sector were present during the opening session of CUDOS 2019.
The opening session featured a number of speakers committed to the global fight against childhood diabetes, obesity and other related diseases.
Among the keynote speakers, AlBuenain highlighted the importance of community engagement.
Dr Abdulwahab Almusleh, the Adviser Consultant to the Minister of Public Health and Chair of the World Cup 2022 Healthcare Program, highlighted the implementation of national health strategy in view of supporting readiness for Qatar 2022 World Cup.
Dr Elias Zerhouni, President of Global Research and Development at Sanofi and member of the board of governors at Sidra Medicine, emphasised the roles of academia, government and industry in research and development.
The opening of CUDOS 2019 also featured a musical segment by the ‘Maias Alyamani with Maqam Ensemble’ members of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, followed by a traditional Arda dance by the Qatar Center for Culture and Heritage.
Professor Ziyad Hijazi, Co-chair of Sidra Medicine’s CUDOS Congress 2019, said, “Our clinicians and researchers will be presenting case studies and research in precision-led programmes in pulmonology, child and adolescent mental health, epilepsy, cancer immuno-genomics and developmental disorders. Congress is an excellent learning experience for specialists and practitioners.”
The first session at CUDOS 2019 focused on ‘The Early Onset Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes,’ highlighting how genetic causes of obesity are recognised and leading the way to personalised approaches to treatment.
The second session under the title ‘Surgical Treatment of Obesity in Youth’ and discussed how bariatric surgery in adolescents is finding support for the treatment of early metabolic disease.
The third and fourth sessions focused on children’s lifestyle to avoid overweight and obese youth and the importance of planning for the future to control and minimize the effect of discussed diseases on the young generations.
