The next IFCC webinars: “Ethical dilemmas in laboratory medicine during pandemic”  will be held on 20 October, 2021 and “Common laboratory measures of dysglycaemia; Their strengths and weaknesses” will be held on 27 October, 2021.

• 20 October 2021:  “Ethical dilemmas in laboratory medicine during pandemic” With its Task Force on Ethics, the IFCC creates a collective voice for ethical issues in Laboratory Medicine and raises awareness of ethics-related issues. The COVID 19 pandemic tests our professional responsibility and demands that we do not simply perform tests and use technology uncritically. In this webinar we will first talk about the causes of the profoundly reduced life expectancy Australia’s remote-dwelling Aborigines and describe demands upon the medical practitioner that are so fundamental that they are rarely encountered in “urban” medicine. Then we will concentrate on how the Covid-19 pandemic is changing the research and society, focusing on the use of remnant clinical samples for research, often exempted from informed consent and the idea of collaboration with scientific research as a moral duty. Finally, as this pandemic has emphasized many long-standing inequities in communities we will highlight the impact of long-standing medical conditions, challenges of testing and contact tracing, mistrust of medical institutions and vaccines. Is this the time to propose a paradigm shift in health care and research ethics? 

Register here.

• 27 October 2021: “Common laboratory measures of dysglycaemia; Their strengths and weaknesses” Diabetes Mellitus, and its precursor clinical syndromes, continue to grow in prevalence in developed and developing countries across the world. Until we have better strategies for prevention, we rely on laboratory testing to screen, diagnose and manage these conditions. Each of these laboratory tests; glucose, insulin and HbA1c play vital roles in understanding and managing diabetes and over several decades laboratory professionals have improved their individual strengths, but also identified some significant weaknesses. No laboratory test is perfect, but it is vital that laboratory professionals are aware of any weaknesses and try to mitigate that risk so that the guidance that the laboratory provides to the clinician, and ultimately the patient, can be clear and balanced. This seminar will allow the participant to identify the weaknesses with the measurement and reporting of glucose, insulin and HbA1c, but also to recognize the laboratory techniques to minimize the risks associated with these weaknesses. 

Register here.

• Schedule: 20 min per speaker plus 20 min panel discussion
• Time Zones for 20 October: Live presentations starting at: 10:00AM EDT – 11:00AM Buenos Aires- AR; 4:00PM European Time; 7:30PM India; 10:00PM CST-Beijing
  Important: Please ensure that you carefully determine the time that the presentation will start in your global time zone. Click here to convert to your time-zone.
• Time Zones for 27 October: Live presentations starting at: 3:00AM EDT – 4:00AM Buenos Aires- AR; 9:00AM European Time; 12:30PM India; 15:00PM CST-Beijing
  Important: Please ensure that you carefully determine the time that the presentation will start in your global time zone. Click here to convert to your time-zone.
• Recorded webinar: available on demand
• Certificate of Participation: available for all registrants