World health experts will travel to the Highlands next month for a major international event that will unite east and west in the fight against the threat of global pandemics.
The Health for Humanity conference in Aviemore, the first of its kind in Scotland, will address the issue of large scale disease outbreaks while developing collaborative and innovative solutions for both mitigating risks as well as building healthy resilient communities.
Dr Ann Marie Kimball of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is one speaker from a number of high profile organisations who will attend the event
Speakers from organisations including the United Nations, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the NHS will be joined by a large delegation of medical practitioners, from both western and alternative medicines, including the deputy secretary general of the China Medical Women’s Association.
Conference organiser Dr Bisong Guo of the Forres-based Shen Foundation, said “This conference represents a major step forward in both understanding the risks of pandemics, to taking a community wide approach to boosting immunity and wellbeing while investing strategically in disease prevention and response”.
In addition to some of the more traditional responses to health issues, there will be a strong emphasis on the use of new digital technologies, and local companies are invited to both showcase and meet their Chinese contemporaries in the field of digital health care.
One of the major aims of the conference is to facilitate collaborative exchange of ideas and innovation.
The conference which takes place from June 15t – 17 at the Macdonald Aviemore Resort, features an international multi-disciplinary array of speakers.
The recent confirmation of human cases of H10N8 in China marks an unprecedented fifth novel influenza-virus emergence event in the past 17 years.
The underlying biological drivers of emerging disease risk are denser populations in developing countries and a highly connected global economic system where infections can be quickly transmitted. For these reasons, pandemics pose greater risks to human society than ever before.
Addressing these risks and responding to pandemics will require new approaches to deal with challenges at many different levels, including health and medicine, community and societal response, economic adaptations and ecosystem protection.
Anyone interested in attending as either a delegate or to represent their business are urged to contact the Conference Preparation Committee tel – 01309 696984.