Global pandemic’s impact in focus at ‘ virtual’ IFHE event

This month will see the Italian Society for Healthcare Architecture and Engineering (SIAIS – Società Italiana e dell’Ingegneria per la Sanità ) host the 26th International Federation of Healthcare Engineering (IFHE) Congress – IFHE 2020, themed ‘Global Climate Action Energy Requirements – The approach, the work organisation, and the future of hospital engineering towards a new healthcare vision'. The Congress was originally scheduled to be held in Rome last May, but, due to the impact of COVID-19, the international event, marking the IFHE’s 50th year, will be held online, with four days of topical conference presentations from the international healthcare estates and healthcare engineering community, and the associated design and construction supply chain. HEJ editor, Jonathan Baillie, reports.

As HEJ readers will have seen in the February 2020 issue, the 26th IFHE Congress was due to be held in Rome from 27-28 May last year. However, given the impact of COVID-19 globally – not least within Italy, which was one of the European countries worst hit by the pandemic – the event organising committee decided there was no option but to postpone it until this month. Although it had been planned to hold a physical Congress at this time, later in 2020 it became clear that with the coronavirus outbreak still very much ongoing, this would now be impractical; hence this month’s IFHE Italy 2020 event is being held virtually, from 24-28 of January. The ‘online’ Congress is being organised jointly by Italy’s SIAIS and event organising company, Events Commuicazione.

Entitled ‘Global climate action in pandemic times’, it will also celebrate the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the International Federation of Healthcare Engineering, which was in fact founded in the Italian capital in 1970. The SIAIS said: “The Congress will provide a unique opportunity to present and compare our experiences as experts in national healthcare systems, having a common framework for discussion in the most current and important issue of our times – ‘Global climate action in pandemic times’. Our experiences, lessons learned, and exchanges, will underpin the significance of our technical know-how in tackling this global issue. With the active involvement of all participants, our congress will offer a platform for launching ideas and projects to enable a collective and coordinated approach to tackle the crisis. This represents an important commitment involving the collaboration of all countries, and a milestone as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the IFHE.”