Crónica del Comité Científico de las XLII Jornadas de Economía de la Salud (Girona, 5-7 julio de 2023)
With an official opening full of prominent personalities, among whom were the Rector of the University of Girona, the Mayor of Girona, and the Health Minister of the Generalitat of CataloniaOn July 5, 2023, the XLII Conference of the Health Economics Association (AES) began in the city of Girona. This year, the Conference had the motto: «Towards a sustainable, innovative and digital health system.»
For three days, national and international experts – there were more than 300 registered – immersed themselves in deep debates about the challenges and opportunities of the new post-Covid era in the health sector. More than 150 communications were received that showed the interest and relevance of the Conference on the national and international scene.
Image 1. Plenary with Adelina Comas: «Economy of dementia: beyond catastrophic forecasts»
The Conference began with the first plenary session by Prof. Dipak Kalra, entitled “Data Driven Digital Transformation in Healthcare”, which discussed digitalization and the data revolution as the great levers of change in health systems. In the second plenary session, which took place on the afternoon of the 6th, Dr. Adelina Comas focused on the challenges of health systems to address the management of a disease closely related to longevity, dementia, through economy and with a vision beyond catastrophic forecasts.
A notable novelty this year was the reduction in the number of plenary sessions (from 3 to 2) and presentation tables (from 6 to 4), a decision of the Scientific Committee that allowed the audience to increase in the sessions and enhance the debate. At the presentation tables, various topics are addressed, from the promotion of innovative models of integrated care to the analysis of the role of cost information in management and the different Health Technology Assessment models, culminating with a debate on misinformation . in Public Health from Multiple Perspectives.
Image 2. Presentation Roundtable IV: “Dissemination as a vaccine for the misinformation epidemic”
The scientific program also had three organized sessions led by AES partners, the AES Interest Group sessions, the communication tables of the participants, the speakers corners, book and report presentations and parallel sessions in English. With all this, an attempt was made to provide answers to current issues, from different perspectives, with the participation of speakers of proven prestige, both national and international.
The scientific program of the AES Conference was possible thanks to incredible teamwork. I only have words of gratitude for Laura Vallejo, Francesc Cots, Juan-Carlos Rejón, Manuel Flores and Marina Rodés, members of the Scientific Committee, who accepted without thinking when I called them during the summer of 2022. With the team formed we started working from September 2022 to have everything ready for the July 2023 Conference. I also want to mention and thank the great work of the twelve reviewers, AES partners, who voluntarily agreed to evaluate the more than 150 communications we received. Thank you very much to all!
The Scientific Committee had the unconditional support of the Organizing Committee, with which it worked side by side (thanks Marc Carreras), the Board of Directors and the Technical Secretariat, to make the AES Conference a success. The setting of Girona provided the perfect touch, welcoming participants to the Faculty of Letters and allowing discoveries of its picturesque streets during social activities.
To conclude, thank all the participants, who allowed the high scientific component of the AES Conference to be maintained and contributed to generating a positive impact through debate and reflection. The next Conference already has a date and place, promising to continue being a forum for knowledge and debate in the field of health economics. See you in Tenerife!
