Members of the CD SKILLS consortium organised a second Steering Committee Meeting on February 15th. Work package leaders together with individual partners presented project achievements of the first period, and plans for the second period. Final conclusion of the meeting is that a project is running well despite the COVID19 pandemic and that all aims of the project will be successfully achieved.

A meeting “Celiac disease – management perspectives in 2021” focusing on healthcare professionals was organised on a second day. It was organised via the virtual platform provided by Collectivibe. Experts from different regions of the world presented excellent lectures to the audience. Current ESPGHAN diagnostic guidelines for celiac disease were presented by Steffen Husby from Denmark. The so-called “no biopsy” approach was again supported. Andrew Day from New Zealand presented a current situation in CD management in Australasia, and showed many similarities with the current situation in Central Europe that was presented by Petra Rižnik from Slovenia. During her presentation she analysed possible reasons for long diagnostic delays in the region. Her lecture was followed by Renata Aurrichio from Naples, Italy who presented current approach to difficult cases of celiac disease, which are not common but present a true challenge to practicing physicians. The following two lectures were focusing on the quality of life of celiac disease patients and follow-up practices in celiac disease and were presented by Margreet Wessels and Luisa Mearin, both from the Netherlands. They showed the importance of continuous care for patients after the diagnosis. These lectures were paralleled by Sibylle Koletzko presenting a lecture on the impact of e-learning tools on improved knowledge about celiac disease which in long term will improve the quality of patient management around the world. Concluding remarks were provided by Jernej Dolinšek from Maribor, Slovenia who also presented aims and activities of the CD SKILLS project.

More than 300 participants from all continents visited online meeting and actively participated with questions and comments. Some of them expressed their willingness to participate in activities of the project and future collaboration in activities focusing on celiac disease.

If you have missed the lectures, they are available here: https://cdskills.collectivibe.com/live/145