IANUBIH ACTIVITIES/NEWS


https://doi.org/10.5005/jp-journals-11005-0040
Science, Art and Religion
Volume 1 | Issue 2-4 | Year 2022

On Occasion of the International Scientific Symposium with Title “What have we Learned about the Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic,” Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina


Osman Sinanović1, Izet Pajević2, Mevludin Hasanović3, Miro Jakovljević4, Asim Kurjak5

1Faculty of Medicine, University of Tuzla, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Sarajevo Medical School, Sarajevo School of Science and Technology, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; International Academy of Science and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina (IANUBIH), Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

2,3Faculty of Medicine, University of Tuzla, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina; International Academy of Science and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina (IANUBIH), Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

4International Academy of Science and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina (IANUBIH), Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

5Sarajevo Medical School, Sarajevo School of Science and Technology, Sarajevo; International Academy of Science and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina (IANUBIH), Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

Corresponding Author: Osman Sinanovic, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tuzla, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Medical School, Sarajevo School of Science and Technology, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; International Academy of Science and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina (IANUBIH), Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, e-mail: osman.sinanovic1@gmail.com

How to cite this article: Sinanović O, Pajević I, Hasanović M, et al. On Occasion of the International Scientific Symposium with Title “What have we Learned about the Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic,” Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Sci Arts Relig 2022;1(2-4):260-262.

Source of support: Nil

Conflict of interest: Prof. Osman Sinanović, Prof. Miro Jakovljević, and Prof. Asim Kurjak are associated as the Editorial Board Members of this journal and this manuscript was subjected to this journal’s standard review procedures, with this peer review handled independently of these Editorial Board Members and their research group.

International scientific symposium with the title “What have we learned about the consequences of the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic” organized by the International Academy of Science and Arts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, together with University Clinical Center Tuzla and the Association of Psychiatrists of Tuzla Canton, under the patronage of Government and Ministry for Health of Tuzla Canton, and Medical Chamber of Tuzla Canton on 22–23rd October 2021 in Tuzla. The reason for this title of the symposium is the fact that there are experiences and scientific evidence about the significant consequences of the pandemic on the health of the population, and its end is not even close yet.1,2 The authors of the presentations at the conference came from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, the United States of America, and Great Britain. A more extensive presentation of the lectures from this symposium has already been published in Psychiatria Danubina.3

The meeting was organized in a hybrid form and tried to answer the question posed in the title itself through 22 lectures and discussions that were conducted accordingly. The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and adults were highlighted together with the health consequences of employees engaged in health care during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as on the religious life of believers and religious communities.

In the first part of the meeting, there was talk about the various health somatic consequences of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection on the health of children and adults, and in the second part, about the consequences on the mental health and religious life of the community.

Plenary lectures were held as follows. The President of International Academy of Science and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina (IANUBiH), academician Asim Kurjak, Master of medicine (MD), Doctor of philosophy (PhD) (Zagreb/Sarajevo, Croatia/Bosnia and Herzegovina), had an introductory lecture titled—“Is the COVID-19 pandemic the end of happy globalization–what was the scientific response?.” Professor Ognjen Gajić, MD, PhD, from Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA, spoke on “International critical care collaboration during COVID-19 pandemics.” Professor Semira Galijašević, MD, PhD (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina) discussed the “Role of oxidative stress in SARS-CoV-2 and possible mechanism.” Professor Jasmina Smajić, MD, PhD (Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina), in her lecture “COVID-19: respiratory disorders,” outlined the most important aspects of respiratory disorders in COVID-19 patients.

Professor Milan Stanojević, MD, PhD (Zagreb, Croatia) had a very interesting lecture titled “Mother and newborn during the COVID-19 pandemic: between Scilla and Charybdis.” Academician Senka Mesihović-Dinarević, MD, PhD (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina), in the lecture titled “Postcovid-19 in children–evaluation of immunological and coronary artery status,” presented the results of research conducted on a group of children from Sarajevo with positive post-COVID history.4

Professor Petar Kes, MD, PhD (Zagreb, Croatia) spoke on acute kidney injury in patients with COVID-19 in a lecture titled—“COVID-19: nephrological disorders.” “The laparoscopic surgery: technique, ergonomic and specifies in the time of COVID-19 pandemic” was the lecture title of Professor Šefik Hasukić, MD, PhD (Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina). Assistant professor Emir Fazlibegović, MD, PhD (Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina), in his lecture titled “COVID-19: cardiologic disorders,” presented the most important cardiological disorders in patients with COVID-19. Gastrointestinal complications in COVID-19 patients (“COVID-19—gastrointestinal tract”) were presented by Professor Milenko Bevanda, MD, PhD (Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina).

Several lectures were devoted to neurological disorders. Professor Vanja Bašić Kes, MD, PhD (Zagreb, Croatia) talked about COVID-19 in neurology (“COVID-19: Neurological disorders”).

Professor Slobodan Apostolski, MD, PhD and Slađana Knežević-Apostolski, MD (Beograd, Serbia) shared their experiences with patients with myasthenia gravis during the COVID-19 pandemic (“COVID-19 and Myasthenia gravis”). Academician Osman Sinanović, MD, PhD (Tuzla/Sarajevo) spoke on “Association of sense of smell and taste disorders with SARS-CoV-2 infection.” “COVID-19 and Parkinson’s disease” was the title of the lecture delivered by Professor Zlatko Trkanjec, MD, PhD (Zagreb, Croatia). Professor Mirsad Muftić, MD, PhD (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina) spoke on “Rehabilitation during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

In the World Health Organization definition of health, we know that health is not only the absence of disease but also the overall mental but also spiritual well-being.5-7

With this fact in mind, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health is certainly related to people’s religious feelings as well.8 In this context, there were several lectures devoted to mental health and the spiritual life of the individual and the community.

President of the World Psychiatric Association), Professor Afzal Javed, MD, PhD (London, Great Britain), spoke on “Mental health challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Professor Miroslava Jašović-Gašić, MD, PhD and Assistant Professor Tijana Cvetić, Doctor of psychology (Belgrade, Serbia), in their lecture entitled “Mental health challenges during COVID-19 pandemic,” gave an overview of the impact of COVID–19 inflections on mental health. “Health consequences of employees engaged in healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic” was the title of a lecture given by Professor Mevludin Hasanović, MD, PhD and Professor Izet Pajević, MD, PhD (Tuzla, Bosnia, and Herzegovina). They pointed out—“Some findings identified the following risk factors for COVID-19-related health impact.” Academician Miro Jakovljević, MD, PhD (Zagreb, Croatia) spoke about “Promotion of the mental health and fighting against COVID-19 pandemic and infodemic.”

One of the sessions was dedicated to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the religious life of believers in BH with views from the Islamic, Catholic, and Orthodox perspectives.

Sead Seljubac, Doctorate in Regulatory Science (Tuzla, Bosnia, and Herzegovina) had a very interesting and intriguing title of his lecture, “COVID-19 pandemics: a test or punishment—Islamic perspective,” which essentially hints at its content. Academician Mijo Nikić, PhD (Zagreb, Croatia), Catholic priest and Professor at the Catholic theological faculty in Zagreb, spoke about the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of Catholic theology (“The COVID-19 pandemic–call to conversion and return to God: a view from the perspective of Catholic theology”). Through his lecture entitled “COVID-19 pandemic–shepherd challenges for Orthodox church,” Srđan Radmanović (Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina), Orthodox priest, presented his views on the pandemic from an Orthodox perspective.

At the end of the symposium, the book “Norman Sartorius-Talks, Thoughts, and Works” (Medicinska naklada—Zagreb, 2021) by Vlado Jukić and Miro Jakovljević was presented. Norman Sartorius is a well-known world expert in the field of mental health and one of the previous presidents of the World Psychiatry Association. The presentation of the book was moderated by academician Osman Sinanović, and speakers were Professor Afzal Javed (online/London), academician Miro Jakovljević and Professor Norman Sartorius (online/Geneve).

The general assessment of the International Scientific Symposium in terms of organization and realization of the lecturers, online (371 participants) and in situ participants (40), organizers, and several media that followed the symposium is that the meeting was very successful.

The conclusion that could be drawn after the presented lectures and discussion was that we have more knowledge about the SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, which is obviously a multiorgan disease, and we also know more about the overall health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the nervous system remain unclear, there is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic is bad for many aspects of human life, including religious life and mental health, and the economy as well as the usual way of education in general, especially in areas where practical work is necessary.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a cruel lesson for the future of humankind and all aspects of medicine because it represents very complex events in its origin, its spread, its effects, and its consequences at multiple levels and fields on people’s health in general and mental health.

The response of science to the challenges of this pandemic is the relatively rapid definition of safe and effective vaccines, as well as the dedicated work to define an effective cure. The scientific community must continue to be mobilized at full capacity in order to overcome this planetary predicament as soon as possible.3

CONTRIBUTION OF INDIVIDUAL AUTHORS

Osman Sinanović: Concept and design of the article, literature searches, writing manuscript, and approval of the final version.

Izet Pajević, Mevludin Hasanović, Miro Jakovljević, Asim Kurjak: Comments on the concept of the article, literature searches, writing some parts of the manuscript, approval of the final version.

REFERENCES

1. Sinanović O, Muftić M, Sinanović S. COVID-19 pandemia: neuropsychiatric comorbidity and consequences. Psychiatr Danub 2020;32(2):236–244. DOI: 10.24869/psyd.2020.236

2. Sinanović O. Long-term neuropsychiatric consequences of SARS-CoV infections. Psychiatr Danub 2021;33(Suppl 3):S309–S317. DOI: 10.5005/sar-1-1-2-74

3. Sinanović O, Pajević I, Hasanovć M, et al. “What have we learned about the COVID-19 pandemic?” - International scientific symposium organized in Tuzla in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Psychiatr Danub 2021:33(3):427–437. DOI: 10.24869/psyd.2021.427

4. Mesihovic-Dinarevic S, Šečić T. Post-coronavirus disease 2019 children in Sarajevo-lessons learnt? J Health Sci 2021;11(2):93–97. DOI: 10.17532/jhsci.2021.1331

5. Jadad AR, O’Grady L. How should health be defined? BMJ 2008;337:1361–1364. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.a2900

6. Anonymous. What is health? The ability to adapt. Lancet 2009;373(9666):373–781. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60456-6

7. Leonardi F. The definition of health: towards new perspectives. Int J Health Serv 2018;48(4):735–748. DOI: 10.1177/0020731418782653

8. Jakovljevic M, Bjedov S, Jaksic N, et al. COVID-19 pandemia and public and global mental health from the perspective of global health security. Psychiatr Danub 2020;32(1):6–14. DOI: 10.24869/psyd.2020.6

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