Abstract

Taking care of adolescents’ health involves much more than just diagnosing and medicating them when they get sick and praying that they get better soon and no longer worrying their families or the health professionals who provide care and consultations.

But practicing Adolescent Medicine goes beyond everything that happens in the day-to-day routine of outpatient clinics, hospitals, emergency rooms and doctors’ offices! It requires commitment and professional dedication to the population of adolescents and young people. It means choosing to always have a health bias, to prevent the problems that caused the disease, and to see how these damages could have been avoided through effective measures or public health policies. The most commonly used term in English for this dedication is advocacy, which could be translated as a presentation and discussion between professionals and institutional organizations of specific and priority topics with the purpose of influencing policies and the allocation of public resources to improve the health of the population, in this case, adolescents and young people.

The promotion of professional events and conferences, public health education campaigns and the publication of studies, research and documents are part of the current and global advocacy measures . Exchanging knowledge, presenting research results, evaluating successful programs and their positive impacts, as well as the difficulties and main obstacles to implementing care services for adolescent and young social groups, are unique opportunities for professionals who dedicate themselves to this cause in favor of health.

At the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine (SAHM) event, which took place in Washington, United States, from March 6 to 9, 2019, we had 273 presentations including posters , symposia, round tables, with important updates and interest group discussions among more than 1,200 professionals who serve or deal with adolescents. Among the event participants, there were more than 100 professors and speakers from 24 countries, on a myriad of complex topics: health equity and minorities, mental health, trauma, suicide, immigrant and refugee adolescents, LGBTQ+, HIV, HepC-HPV, vaccines, drugs, social media, eating disorders, pregnancy, among many others. Summary of the event and keynote presentations are available online and also published online in the Journal of Adolescent Health Vol 64, Issue 2S www.jahonline.org .

Here in Brazil, we will have the 15th Adolescence Congress of the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics, which will take place from May 23 to 25, 2019, in São Paulo, with many national and Latin American presentations and conferences, including the participation of the Adolescence Committee of the Latin American Association of Pediatrics (ALAPE). For more information and to see the event schedule, visit www.adolescencia2019.com.br .

The sharing of knowledge and information, good practices and professional experiences in adolescent health care serve as reflection and inspiration for all who often face difficult times in the implementation of health policies and advocacy , with a focus on the prevention of medical risks and the promotion of comprehensive, interdisciplinary and intersectoral health of adolescents and young people. Each one doing their part, with ethics and professional responsibility. And so we move forward, with enthusiasm and always together, for another year of work and sharing through our Adolescence & Health Magazine .

Evelyn Eisenstein
Scientific Editor