On October 8, 2020, the European Forum of Medical Associations brought together members of the global medical community for the first online annual meeting of its kind. At the personal invitation of the Secretary General of EFMA – Adv. Leah Wapner, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Andrey Kehayov – President of SEEMF and SEEMF’s Secretariat were official representatives of the Southeast European Medical Forum at the meeting.
Among the participants in the forum were the former President of the World Medical Association (WMA) – Prof. Leonid Eidelman, the Secretary General of the WMA – Dr. Otmar Kloiber, Dr. Catherine Smallwood – World Health Organization, the Standing Committee of European Physicians represented by Dr. Frank Montgomery – President and Dr. Jacques de Haller- former President, Dr. Ramin Parsa – Medical Association of Germany. Other SEEMF representatives who took part were Dr. Oleg Musii-Ukraine, Dr. Gia Lobzhanidze-Georgia and Dr. Aizhan Sadykova-Kazakhstan.
During the online discussion the main topics were related to the influence of COVID-19 in the whole medical sphere, namely: “General health during a pandemic”, “Mental health of health professionals” and “Medical education during a crisis“.
At the end of the virtual meeting, the Secretary General of the European Forum of Medical Associations – Adv. Lea Wapner thanked for the participation and support of the friendly associations – World Medical Association, Standing Committee of European Physicians and the Southeast European Medical Forum and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Andrey Kehayov.