The 3rd "Health of Poles” Congress, co-organized by the Clinical Sciences Committee, was the largest interdisciplinary meeting in 2021, addressing the most important issues of health care and achievements of Polish medicine. During two days (October 25-26) 8 plenary debates, 12 auxiliary symposia, 55 expert panels and 46 lectures were held in the World Hearing Center in Kajetany. In total, the congress was attended by more than 500 prominent scientists and experts in medicine, health care, representatives of the Parliament, governmental authorities, local governments, academic communities, education, culture, sports, and the media. The sessions were of a hybrid nature – live broadcast of discussions and lectures on six channels gathered thousands of interested viewers. Session recordings are available on the congress website http://kongres-zdrowiepolakow.pl/
The mission statement of the Congress was "The Health of Poles, the Health of Each of Us is the Greatest Capital and the Greatest Investment in the Future". The purpose of the 3rd edition of the event was to determine the strategy of action for various state, local government, scientific, clinical institutions and expert groups, patients' organizations, which had, have, and in particular will have an impact on the condition of our society, promoting pro-health attitudes and supporting cross-generational solidarity, as well as showing the possibilities of modern medicine and potential threats to health and life. The aim of many of the speeches was first of all to give tips on how to take care of one's own health, recommendations for health care professionals and for the society, following from the current threat of COVID-19.
During the opening of the Congress, Professor T. Grodzki, Speaker of the Polish Senate expressed his support for the activities of the organizers.
M. Gosiewska, Deputy Speaker of the Polish Sejm, pointed out that the motto of the Congress clearly sets the perspective for numerous debates and discussions. This capital should be built systematically and with perseverance in cooperation of various environments, political and social forces. P. Zgorzelski, Deputy Speaker of the Polish Sejm, indicated that the initiative of the 3rd "Health of Poles" Congress was an extremely valuable undertaking because it created a space for exchanging ideas among various environments - experts, scientists, decision makers, patients. Professor R. Zabielski, Vice President of the Polish Academy of Sciences, during the opening ceremony recalled numerous activities taken by the Polish Academy of Sciences for the benefit of Poles' health during the last year, and referred to the monograph entitled "Climate Change – its Impact on Polish Society and Economy" recently published by the Forecast Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences. (...) He postulated that during the next congresses these problems should be addressed in more depth. He emphasized that clean environment, clean water and healthy food are extremely important in health prevention. He concluded his speech with a statement that the society should be educated as to invest more wisely in health and to treat the hospital as the last resort.
Over 500 speeches were given during the congress, meaning more than 100 hours of recordings. Several hundred press and online reports were published, and the transmissions and other post-congress materials were followed by over 42 thousand Facebook users. To sum up the 3rd "Health of Poles" Congress, a report edited by Professor H. Skarżyński was prepared, with recommendations concerning the most important issues of the current health care system. The report will be a helpful instrument in setting guidelines for changes in the Polish health care system and public health.
Just like in the previous year, the Congress was a joint initiative of the Clinical Sciences Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the General Council of Research Institutes, the World Hearing Center of IFPS, the Institute of Sensory Organs and numerous university teams of experts, scientific societies, NGOs and specialists from many fields.
Members of the Clinical Sciences Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences organized 16 expert panels.