Monday, November 3, 2008

Asia-Pacific military medical forum opens in Singapore

Singapore held a forum on Monday for military medical professionals in the Asia-Pacific region to discuss scientific and military medical cooperation.

The 18th Asia-Pacific Military Medicine Conference was co-hosted by the Singapore Armed Forces and the United States Army Pacific Command. Over 600 military medical professionals from morethan 30 countries and regions were attending the conference.

In his speech, Singapore's Defense Minister Teo Chee Hean highlighted the importance of the conference in helping to build understanding and lay the foundation for countries and armed forces to work together in response to any future crisis.

Recounting Singapore's experience in the SARS outbreak in 2003 and the Singapore armed forces' response to the Tsunami disaster in 2004, Teo emphasized that close cooperation between medical and health agencies domestically as well as externally was critical in carrying out relief operations effectively.

The theme for this year's conference, "Learning from the Past, Transforming Medical Teams for the Future", aims to explore the challenges, as well as current and emerging threats faced by military medicine professionals.

A wide range of topics will be discussed over the five-day meeting, including combat medicine and trauma, environmental and preventive medicine, and aviation medicine.

No comments:

Kontera Tag