Some medical terms are more difficult to understand than others, especially when discussing complex pathologies or rare tests. Children, however, may initially encounter this difficulty with even the most basic vocabulary, encompassing everyday health terms and related concepts. For this reason, medical vocabulary specialists from Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) in Barcelona have collaborated with over 3,000 children and young people from schools and institutes throughout Catalonia to develop a platform to explain medical terms to children in their own words, using new digital and multimedia formats. This platform, called Diximed, is aimed at children and families, as well as pediatricians and educators. "You have to approach the child's needs, but keeping in mind a psycholinguistic theory that says nothing is learned in leaps and bounds, but always from what is already known. And if what a child knows is incorrect and no one explains it to them, they will always end up carrying that misconception," says Rosa Estopà, principal investigator of the Lex project, a research group at Iulaterm. To carry out this initiative, the participating children were asked to explain what they knew about certain words, such as flu, louse, vaccine, coronavirus, cancer either chickenpoxAmong many others, they were asked to draw them. "We told them they had to do it as if they were explaining it to a child their age who came from another planet," Estopà recalls.

Dengue fever is no longer just an imported threat arriving on airplanes. It's a homegrown reality in Catalonia. By the summer of 2024, the outbreak of eight cases in Vila-seca (Tarragonès) –the largest recorded in Spain– forcefully confirmed it: the virus is circulating here, transmitted by native mosquitoes. This episode is not an anecdote, but an alarming sign that reflects a profound transformation: global warming and mass mobility have shattered old epidemiological boundaries. A patient with fever and bone pain can no longer rule out a tropical disease without traveling. Faced with this new normal, the response cannot be fragmented. Human, animal, and environmental health are intrinsically linked. The solution has a name, One Health', an integrative approach that becomes an imperative necessity.

"I had to go on a trip and my heart stopped," explains Aina Ramis. She is 57 years old and has been living with transthyretin amyloidosis, known as Andrade's disease, for over two decades. And that's what happened in her case. She has lost her vision and uses a pacemaker. Andrade's disease, and that approximately half have symptoms. There are more cases in Mallorca, and in fact, nearly 33% of cases in Spain are on that island, where the disease is considered endemic.

Except for the fifth edition of the Vallviva festival, a very special one because it will be the first without its founder, Eudald Morera, who passed away last November at the age of 59. Morera decided to organize this festival At a time when her life was going through a very difficult time, diagnosed with advanced cancer and against the wishes of her family and close friends. Ten weeks passed from the moment she proposed it to the first edition. "Obviously it will be a very, very special edition. You have a bittersweet feeling, you are happy to see that his project, the legacy he has left us, continues forward, but we are still missing a lot. The figure of the director who ended up making the decisions... Well, assuming this role means taking on more responsibilities and more emotional burden, but very happy and happy to continue," says the eldest daughter of the founder, who at 27 years old is leading the project.