TERMATALIA ourense 2024

The II International Congress on Water and Health of Termatalia and the IV International Symposium on Thermalism and Quality of Life of the Campus da Auga will have the collaboration, one more year, of the Chair of Medical Hydrology USC-Balnearios de Galicia. This entity will also be in charge of coordinating the first day of these events, scheduled for Wednesday, September 15, 2021, and which will focus on Medical Hydrology and will address the role of spas in recovering health after the pandemic.

The USC-Balnearios de Galicia Chair of Medical Hydrology celebrates twelve years on November 30. In this short time it has focused its activities on: Initiating Medicine students in the knowledge of the spa cure by organizing a course in Medical Hydrology, and since the implementation of the sixth grade, Weekends in the Spas, in which the students know its operation and attend a seminar on applications of the spa cure. Annually, 120 final year students participate, a third of the promotion.

Disseminate among doctors the current indications of the spa cure, its contraindications and application procedures. To this end, in 2017 they prepared the Vademecum of the mineral-medicinal waters of Galicia, without a doubt the most important work of the Chair, which we distributed through the management of the SERGAS hospitals to all primary care doctors, PACs, and specialists in pulmonology , rheumatology, dermatology, rehabilitation and traumatology of Galicia, and every year to the new MIR that are incorporated in these specialties.

In order to disseminate the current indications for balneotherapy in society, they organize the “A Saúde é o que importa” Cycle in which prominent and prestigious medical professionals present the benefits that the thermal cure currently has in treatment. pathologies of their specialties. In addition, through the Milky Way of Communication, they disseminate the activities of the Chair in the media (press, radio, television).

In order to bring the 6th grade and 1st ESO students closer to the knowledge of the wealth of Galician spas, they published in 2019 the Didactic Guide: Os Balnearios de Galicia. Discover its possibilities for health, for its use in “health education” and “knowledge of the environment” activities. We sent two copies to all public and private educational centers in Galicia, and they posted the pdf of the Guide, with which they work, on the website of Galician spas (balneariosdegalicia.gal), where it can be freely downloaded.

They also promote research and publications: Presentation of the USC-Balnearios de Galicia Medical Hydrology chair (2010); The Fountain of the Templars (2012); Balneotherapy: from empiricism to scientific evidence. Balneotherapy as an adjuvant treatment in tumor processes (2014); The clearing baths. History of the San Benito de Aguasantas spa (2015); Leaves for the memory (2016); Bibliographic spa. A bibliographical and graphic journey through the mineral waters of Galicia (2017); Integrative Oncology II (2017); Tribute to Dr. Luís R. Miguez (2018); Spas on the Caminos de Santiago de Galicia (2020), and Tribute to Dr. José Carro Otero (2021) is about to be published.

They collaborate with the spas in the computerization of the clinical history and protocolization of the benefits with the ultimate goal that one day balneotherapy will be included in the benefits of the National Health System, as it is in other European countries.