Scleroderma

Great success for the second Systemic Sclerosis World Congress that was held in February at the Palacio de Congresos de Madrid.

After the positive experience of 2010 in Florence, AIM Group International organised the second edition the congress, on behalf of World Scleroderma Foundation, founded by Alexander Klee, grandson of the great painter Paul Klee, who also a suffers from scleroderma, a so-called "rare" disease with very painful and debilitating effects.

To approach the social aspects of the disease, the Congress opened to the patients’ associations (FESCA - Scleroderma Federation of European Associations) and organized a parallel conference with hundreds of patients who had the opportunity to debate on clinical cases, experiences and opinions with experts and prominent international physicians.

With a qualified program consisting of seventy seven lectures, around sixty oral presentations and three hundred posters, the Congress attracted over 1,300 delegates from around the world: in fact, in addition to a prevalent presence from European countries, some hundred American, Asian and African participants contributed to reinforcing the international nature of the meeting.

At the end of the World Congress, the Scleroderma Foundation, chaired by Prof. Marco Matucci Cerinic, AIM Group International were appointed for the organisation of the next Congress, to be held in Paris in 2014.

Source: Agency & Association (2012), "The World Scleroderma Foundation meets in Madrid for the “Systemic Sclerosis World Congress” organised by AIM Group International"; ITCM