There is a strong correlation between the states of health and disease, to the extent that medicine is not exclusively the science of disease, given that disease cannot exist without health. Respiratory health has become a both current and future global challenge that is often underestimated, despite the fact that respiratory problems occur at a high incidence and prevalence in all age groups, ranging from asthma in children to COPD in adults. Respiratory health and the study and management of respiratory diseases must be approached from a multidisciplinary point of view, in each player must be aware of their role, and engage with others to put in motion the machinery of respiratory care, and promote research and training in these pathological processes to improve the health of this population.

Six years ago, we called on our most highly trained colleagues from our region, across Spain, and abroad, to form the Cantabrian Association for Research in Respiratory System (ACINAR), with the intention of bringing together a large group of respiratory health specialists who were sufficiently motivated to undertake joint research activities in respiratory disease, and to ensure the best continuing professional development in this specialty. The main objective of our association is to comprehensively improve the respiratory care of our population delivered by all professionals seeing these patients in all areas, by promoting health, prevention and rehabilitation, and attempting to eliminate the barriers between primary care and hospital care.

The conceptual basis of our teamwork is that the patient does not belong to any particular area, but rather their care is the responsibility of the entire health system, ensuring they receive the right treatment in each area, delivered by each professional, according to their needs, in the most appropriate manner. For this reason, the association is composed of family physicians (who work in health centers and emergency departments), pulmonologists, internists, epidemiologists, nurses (in both primary and hospital care), physiotherapists, and university lecturers. The activities of the association are directed at all members, and address aspects of multidisciplinary interest, with particular focus on research, training, and teaching, and on working with public health system administrators and the pharmaceutical and food industries to implement of educational programs in respiratory health.

Over the years, the association has seen the completion and publication of 3 doctoral theses that received excellent ratings, several publications in highly ranked journals, along with reports on our work in national and international congresses and meetings. The ACINAR congress, which serves as a framework for encounter and communication among our members, welcomes the active participation of colleagues from other regions and countries, who honor us with their attendance and collaboration. The themes addressed in the meeting are submitted to qualified content committees, who consistently strive to present a diverse range of topical proposals, to provide new knowledge for immediate application in our daily work, to air subjects of concern for debate, and, of course, to encourage new lines of research by the association.

The 6th Congress of the association took place on February 15 and 16, 2019 in the Palacio de la Magdalena in Santander, Spain. As in previous events, the capital of Cantabria was the setting for high-level presentations on strategies in respiratory diseases given by many of the top professionals in the national and international arena. On Friday morning, practical workshops were given on spirometry, inhalation technique, clinical interview, thoracic ultrasound, emergency care of the critical respiratory patient, methodology in clinical research, and publication in scientific journals of impact. In the afternoon, the inaugural session led by the Mayor of Santander, the Minister for Health of the Cantabrian Health Service, the Chair of the Official College of Nursing of Cantabria, the Vice-Chair of the Official College of Physicians of Cantabria and the Chair of ACINAR, was followed by an interesting and heartfelt discussion with 2 of the most prestigious Spanish researchers working at an international level, Dr Angel Carracedo in the field of genetics, and Dr Alex Mira in the oral microbiome, truly raising the level of the congress to the height of “shoulders of giants”. During the rest of the meeting, issues of topical interest in respiratory diseases, such as asthma, COPD, lung diseases, interstitial lung diseases, and tuberculosis, were addressed. One of the round table debates that aroused most interest discussed obstacles faced by professionals in the field of primary care (both doctors and nurses) when diagnosing and treating respiratory diseases, offering the right care, promoting health education, and conducting clinical research.

All the pathologies discussed during the meeting were addressed from a multidisciplinary perspective, with the participation of primary care and hospital physicians, nursing staff at both healthcare levels, epidemiologists from the University of Cantabria, and representatives from respiratory patients’ associations (FENAER).

ACINAR is a multidisciplinary scientific association, and, as such, aims to champion the promotion of respiratory health and the study of the current status of respiratory diseases, by promoting quality scientific research and the development of programs, protocols, and strategies to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of respiratory diseases. From our autonomous community, Cantabria, in collaboration with all stakeholders in our area of specialization, we hope to achieve our main objectives, namely improving quality of life, minimizing symptoms and, as far as possible, curing our respiratory patients.