2021 in Review, Plans for 2022, and Happy Holidays from the Team at the Global Sepsis Alliance
Can you believe the year is almost over again? Feels like we have just been here...anyway, a huge thanks from our entire team for continuing to support the Global Sepsis Alliance, World Sepsis Day, and the global fight against sepsis throughout 2021 – your support means the world to us. Another year in a global pandemic, with Covid looming over everything. Nevertheless, also a successful year, not at least due to the advances in modern medicine and science. Below, we have summarized our 2021 for you, and look ahead to our plans for 2022 – the year in which we can hopefully move Covid a bit further into the back of our head.
A Look Back on 2021
January / February / March
The year started out with the GSA supporting the John Snow Memorandum, together with many more societies and thought leaders from all over the world. We also announced the World Sepsis Congress 2021 – to take place in April 2021 – and shared Christine’s story, becoming a triple amputee after an infection from a dog bite that led to sepsis. Later in February, we were eager to hear your feedback in the 2021 Fundraising Survey. In March, the Global Sepsis Alliance joined the G20 Health & Development Partnership, an advocacy organization that aims to ensure that G20 countries coordinate their health innovation strategies to tackle the growing burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases globally, to promote the delivery of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a focus on SDG 3 “health and well-being for all” – a goal with which we can very much align with.
April
In April, all eyes focused on the 2021 World Sepsis Congress. Over the course of two days and 15 diverse and highly relevant sessions, over 90 speakers from more than 30 countries gave trenchant talks on all aspects of sepsis, from the impact of policy, the role of artificial intelligence and big data, patient safety, and long-term sequelae through to novel trial design, the latest research, and much more.
The congress was held entirely online and participation was free of charge – the talks are still available on YouTube and as a podcast on Apple Podcasts - just search for ‘World Sepsis Congress’ in your favorite podcast player. We know it’s a lot – maybe you’ll have the time to catch up on a talk or two during the holidays?
The congress was a big success – almost 20,000 people from 181 countries signed up to participate, 71% from low- and middle-income countries. The full report is available here.
Last but not least, we also shared Hailey’s sepsis story and her tough return to ‘normal’ after sepsis, post-sepsis symptoms, and PTSD.
May / June
The month was kicked off by World Hand Hygiene Day on May 5 – clean healthcare is among the most urgent challenges identified by the United Nations to be addressed by the global community in the next 10 years and is highly relevant in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as fighting against infections, sepsis, and, most prominently in the last year, COVID-19.
On May 11, we honored the institutions and individuals who received a GSA Award in 2020 with a virtual ceremony. Shortly thereafter, we opened the applications and nominations for the 2021 GSA Awards.
In June, we published the aforementioned WSC 2021 Report, sharing detailed statistics and numbers from our congress.
Jointly with ESICM and SCCM, we published a consensus paper in Intensive Care Medicine, emphasizing the importance of recognizing that patients critically ill with COVID-19 have viral sepsis, despite some differences from sepsis caused by other pathogens.
July / August
After launching our WSD Photo Challenge 2.0 and new countdown material in early July, our friends from the Eastern Mediterranean Sepsis Alliance unveiled their new website and logo later in the month. Gearing up for World Sepsis Day, we stocked up our Online Shop, including new medical masks.
September
September is, as the name suggests, our busiest month – and the same was true in 2021. We started with the EMSA Webinar 2021 on September 1 (recap here), moved to the 4th Annual Meeting of the European Sepsis Alliance on September 9 (recap here), at which the first ESA European Sepsis Report was published. In between, our very own Abdulelah Alhawsawi and Konrad Reinhart spoke at the Health20 Summit.
On World Sepsis Day, countless hospitals and organizations turned pink for World Sepsis Day – a truly global spectacular, once again. The 2021 WSD Event Poster summarizes the events that took place all around the world. Also on WSD, we launched our new quiz on sepsis – go ahead, test your knowledge here.
Following closely on the heels of WSD on September 13, World Patient Safety Day on September 17 once again put sepsis in the spotlight, as healthcare-acquired infections represent around 20% of sepsis cases.
October / November / December
In October, we joined forces with our colleagues from the World Health Summit to design a session on ‘Combating Sepsis: Global and National Strategies’ – you can watch it here. Towards the end of the month, our friends and colleagues from the African Sepsis Alliance teamed up with ISF and the Rwandan Emergency Care Association to host ‘Sepsis 2021: Rethinking Sepsis in Resource-Constrained Settings: The Viewpoint from Africa’ – all talks are available here. The event was a milestone in raising awareness and sharing experiences on sepsis in Africa.
In November, we encouraged you to participate in Movember, raising awareness for men’s health, especially focused on mental health, suicide prevention, as well as prostate and testicular cancer. Later in the month, we celebrated World Prematurity Day 2021 and made the 2021 WSD Event Poster available – in fact, you can still order free printed copies via our online shop.
Lastly, our colleagues from the ESA published a study revealing the burden of post-sepsis morbidity to be higher than initially thought – 3 out of 4 sepsis survivors had new medical, cognitive, or psychological diagnoses…
Looking Ahead to 2022
In 2022, we will put no less energy into heavily advocating for sepsis to be prioritized as the major global health threat that it is, and many of the successes of 2021 lay the foundation for our work in 2022. For this purpose, we are also planning to expand our team, in order to grasp and create as many opportunities as possible, increase our outreach, and advocate for sepsis worldwide.
We are currently hard at work on the ‘WSC Spotlight: Novel Therapeutic and Diagnostic Approaches for COVID-19 and Sepsis’, to be held in the last week of April 2022 – save the date!
You can also expect the 2022 GSA Awards, an (online-only) ceremony for the 2021 GSA Award Winners, and, as every year, we will translate more material into more languages. We are hoping to meet with some of you face to face at our WSD Supporter Meetings, and are also planning a couple of events with our Regional Sepsis Alliances.
There will also be an exciting change at the WSD HQ in early 2022 – but it’s top-secret for now.
And of course and as every year, our efforts will cumulate in World Sepsis Day on September 13 – hopefully with you and your participation. Stay safe and get into 2022 well!