Editors’ Letter

Dear Friends,

We are glad to share with you FIDEC’s main activities over the last 12 months. Upon review of our programs’ history and outcomes, we felt satisfied with our work and most grateful with all the people and institutions, such as FUNCEI, in Buenos Aires, that have supported us over these 21 years. With a great deal of effort and dedication, we have successfully managed to keep most of our actions ongoing, some of them for over a decade, in spite of a changing socioeconomic context. In this new scenario, we have decided to stay in contact with you through this digital yearbook, a major improvement brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Internet communication has been a main pillar of our work, which has expanded since we resumed in-person activities. For instance, in May 2022, we celebrated in Miami the Forum of Latin American Experts on Influenza. Nevertheless, to offer free continuing education and training, we still invest in virtual learning environments, as they allow us to engage a larger community of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals from Argentina and the region. A clear proof of this is the large number of participants in the fifth edition of Stamboulian Talks and in the First Course on Communications and Vaccines, the activity we designed to open the virtual campus at FUNCEI informa sobre vacunas (FUNCEI Informs about Vaccines).

Both electronic and, especially, printed resources are part of the learning materials used in our educational programs aimed at children, educators, and families in different Argentinian locations. In 2022, we have continued communicating the power of the immune system and vaccines to prevent infectious diseases and to encourage comprehensive care of kid’s health. We have also carried on with our campaign First 1,000 Days of Nutrition for a Healthy Life in El Sauzalito, in the province of Chaco, so that a larger number of children in the country get a chance to achieve their full potential now and in the future. To finance these activities, we have used the funds raised at FIDEC’s 20th charity open golf in Miami and charity events organized by FUNCEI.

Resting on the firm foundations we have built, we are thrilled to face new challenges, such as the Shirak Health Pilot Project, run in one of the most disadvantaged provinces in Armenia. With the financial support of the Armenian diaspora in Argentina, we aim to provide rural communities with free medical services to diagnose and treat the most prevalent health conditions in that area.

As you read about these and other activities, you will find pictures and various records of the impact made by FIDEC and FUNCEI’s work. We thus wish to motivate you to reaffirm your commitment to our communities’ health and quality of life. Once again, thank you for relaying on us to help others. 

See you next year!