Qatar Health 2021: An online conference to prepare for a mass gathering sporting event while still addressing the pandemic

It feels like yesterday that we wrote the editorial related to the previous issue of the Qatar Health 2020 Conference!¹. 2020 is clearly a year to remember globally as a challenging one and this probably contributed to time passing so rapidly, keeping everyone so busy caring for patients and conducting research². COVID-19 has had a big impact on all aspects of our lives, from the way we deliver patient care and work, to how we socialize and plan for the future in general. The past year has certainly provided an opportunity for the State of Qatar to demonstrate its resilience, its ability to rapidly adapt to new circumstances, and to find effective solutions to new problems^3,4. Although very concerned by the current pandemic, our focus needs to also concentrate on the forthcoming FIFA World Cup in 2022 and every possible health related aspects, to ensure the event is safely hosted for everyone’s enjoyment. This has been clearly reflected in the Qatar Health 2021 conference program and call for abstracts (Table 1) which was organized into four parallel tracks fully hosted online for everyone’s safety. This issue of the Journal of Emergency Medicine, Trauma and Acute Care contains an extensive selection of 38 out of the 94 abstracts that have been accepted for oral or poster presentation during the conference. The abstract themes are summarized in Table 2 and range from the impact of the pandemic on delivering primary care to Qatar’s preparedness to dealing with hazardous and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incidents^5,6. Notably 48 (51.06%) of the abstract titles contained the word COVID-19 or pandemic while only 4 abstracts (4.25%) were related to mass gatherings and sporting events. The later topics were primarily covered by multiple invited speakers with the relevant experience and proved to be the most attended conference sessions. It is worth noticing that the event attracted just over of 5,400 delegates and speakers from a total of 40 countries and has received highly positive feedback. We look forward to welcoming everyone again next year as we come closer to the FIFA World Cup 2022, with many more topics, partner organizations, and attendees.