• The Congress of Sleep, which is being held in Marrakech from June 9 to 11, focuses on the
serious risks that this disease can cause in adults and children.
• On the sidelines of this forum, the organizers announced the creation of the Franco-Moroccan Association for Obstructive Respiratory Disorders in Children’s Sleep (AFMATROS).
• An awareness caravan was organized in the Marrakech wholesale market to raise awareness among truck drivers of the risks of accidents related to sleep disorders with the assistance of ASMAMAP.
Marrakesh, June 9, 2022
If your child is hyperactive or sleepy and has behavioral problems, it may not be because they are lazy or rambunctious, they may have obstructive sleep breathing disorder (OSRD) and may be treated if diagnosed in time. This is the message conveyed by the organizers of the Congress of Sleep in its 2022 edition, which opened its doors on June 9 in Marrakech.
Devoted to the problem of accidents on the public highway and road safety as well as to sleep disorders in children, this meeting brings together more than 200 participants and several speakers and exhibitors who study, over three days, problems centered on five major themes:
• Road accidents and the national road safety strategy for reducing sleep-related AVP (in partnership with NARSA and ASMAMAP).
• The consequences of extreme conditions on sleep: experience of a fleet admiral maritime
• Artificial intelligence and sleep: the treatment of sleep disorders is the segment of the
most digitized healthcare.
• Sleep and respiratory and cardiovascular as well as metabolic disorders (obesity+++)
• Obstructive sleep disordered breathing in children (TROS). They remain unknown and the health course is a real ordeal for the parents of the child. The congress will mark the birth of the pilot project for training on childhood TROS.
Organized by the Moroccan Federation of Sleep Medicine and Vigilance (FMMSV) and the Franco-Moroccan Sleep Association (AFMASOM), in partnership with the National Road Safety Agency (NARSA) and the Moroccan Association of Certified Doctors to certify medical aptitude for a driving license (ASMAMAP) this congress was an opportunity for the organizers to announce the creation of the Franco-Moroccan Association for obstructive respiratory sleep disorders in children (AFMATROS).
“We wanted to dedicate an association to sleep disorders in children given the importance we attach to this very rarely detected disease, the symptoms of which can be hyperactivity in the child or drowsiness with what this implies as consequences for his studies and his future. When the disease is detected in time, the child can be cured completely,” said Dr. Mohammed Ibrahimi, President of FMMSV.
Indeed, many parents are sometimes confronted with behavioral problems in their children and do not immediately make the link with sleep pathologies. As such, the organizers announced a pilot project carried out with the children’s hospital in Rabat for training in children’s TROS, the details of which were presented in plenary.
“Our associations have set themselves the task of raising awareness, training and supporting health professionals (pneumologists, ENT, pediatricians, cardiologists, orthodontists, endocrinologists, neurologists, general practitioners and pedodontists, etc.) and scouts, in particular teachers, educators and parents. to save lives,” said Robert Clavel, vice-president of AFMASOM and president of the new association AFMATROS.
For adults, the disease is the same but the consequences and the treatment are different. “In adults, sleep disorders are not considered a pathology even though this can lead to fatal accidents, especially among the population of professional drivers or transporters, for example. We have joined this Congress to raise the awareness of as many people as possible. We have also organized together with the FMMSV, AFMASOM and ASMAMAP screening caravans and surveys in Casablanca and Marrakech, in bus stations and wholesale markets. Those diagnosed will be cared for by NARSA,” explained Mr. Benacer Boulaajoul, Managing Director of NARSA.
It should be noted that the samples from the two caravans each time involved around a hundred people, 20 to 25% of whom had a high probability of suffering from sleep apnea. These people will be the subject of in-depth examinations for an accurate diagnosis. Other similar actions are planned in the coming months.