Director general of Dubai Health Authority opens ICS 16.05.2013: International Cardiology Symposium and Diabetes Forum Experts address growing Mid East, global public health issues;

International Cardiology Symposium and Diabetes Forum


Experts address growing Mid East, global public health issues; healthcare suppliers use exhibition to showcase latest cardiology and diabetes innovations




Caption    His Excellency Engineer Essa Al Haj Al Maidoor, Director General of the Dubai Health Authority has inaugurated Dubai’s first ever International Cardiology Symposium and Diabetes Forum – A Global Agenda (ICS-13). 


His Excellency Engineer Essa Al Haj Al Maidoor, Director General of the Dubai Health Authority has inaugurated Dubai’s first ever International Cardiology Symposium and Diabetes Forum – A Global Agenda (ICS-13).


More than 600 healthcare practitioners, researchers and scholars from Brazil, Europe and the Gulf region gathered to address growing Middle East and global public health issues. H.E. Al Maidoor said there was an imperative need to act now and combat debilitating cardiovascular related diseases and diabetes.


“The Dubai Health Authority recognises the urgency in dealing with the diabetes pandemic and cardiovascular related conditions, which are a global burden on the healthcare community,” said Al Maidoor. “In the UAE, the highest number of deaths is attributed to cardiovascular disease, and 18.9 per cent of UAE’s population suffers from diabetes.


“Therefore, we are working at all levels, from setting policies to carrying out mass awareness campaigns to tackle these health issues with an aim to reduce the prevalence of these diseases, and to ensure that those who have these diseases are aware of it and are managing their condition so as to prevent further complications. One of our main goals is to provide access to highly qualified doctors, latest medical treatment and excellent healthcare facilities.”


Running for three days at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, the inaugural symposium is spotlighting latest developments on clinical practice in coronary artery diseases, interventions, diabetes, heart failure and hypertension.


Professor Daniel José Piñeiro, President of the Inter-American Society of Cardiology chaired the opening session, ‘state of the art in heart failure’, today.  He was joined by Roberto Ferrari, Professor of Cardiology at the University of Ferrara in Italy who presented the ‘management of systolic heart failure in patients’ seminar.


Among the headline speakers at the symposium included Dr Abdurrazzak Gehani, Consultant Interventional Cardiologist and Director of Primary PCI and Advanced Life Support Programs in Qatar, who addressed the 350 attending international delegates about ‘contemporary treatment of patients with diabetes and coronary artery diseases.’


Gehani said that diabetics in the Middle East are at a higher risk of developing more aggressive coronary artery diseases and its complications as they have important differences from non-diabetic patients and often require more aggressive interventional therapy and treatment.


“Today’s sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy eating choices are leading to alarming incidences of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases in the Middle East,” said Gehani.


“The growing incidence of these diseases is a huge concern, and it is imperative for people to understand the consequences of unhealthy lifestyles to halt the widespread increase of such diseases.”


One of the highlights of the International Cardiology Symposium is a presentation on the final day (18 May) by Professor Panos Vardas, Head of the Cardiology Department at Heraklion University Hospital, Crete, Greece.


Vardas will deliver a presentation about new oral drugs which prevent blood clotting in patients with fast and erratic heartbeats, underlining the need for proper diagnosis for those above the age of 60 years while describing the categories of patients suitable for the new drugs.


Vardas said: “It’s interesting to participate in the International Cardiology Symposium in Dubai as it will be attended by a significant number of specialists in cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.  In addition, it is also very important to address an audience with different cultural and education backgrounds, especially in the Middle East where diabetes is a common disease.”


Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance and Industry, the International Cardiology Symposium and Diabetes Forum is staged in tandem with an exhibition featuring leading regional and international pharmaceutical and medical device companies, including sponsors Pfizer, Servier, Mantecorp Farmasa and Biolab.


They are showcasing their latest products and solutions to key decision makers in the Middle East, and are joined by other multinational players looking to capitalise on a GCC healthcare sector that is expected to be worth US$79 billion by 2015, including AstraZeneca, GE Healthcare, Novo Nordisk, Nihon Kohden Middle East, Terumo Corporation, Medstreaming, Al Hayat Pharmaceuticals, Cinfa, Al Mazroui Medical & Chemical Supplies, Sanofi, Medtronic, Modern Pharmaceutical Company, Personal MedSystems GmbH and Trumpf Medical Systems.


The International Cardiology Symposium and Diabetes Forum – A Global Agenda (ICS-13) is held under the auspices of the Emirates Cardiac Society, Emirates Diabetes Society, Brazilian Society of Cardiology, Brazilian Society of Diabetes, European Society of Cardiology and International Atherosclerosis Society.


The three-day symposium and exhibition is supported by the Dubai Convention and Events Bureau and endorsed by the Government of Dubai and Dubai Health Authority as well as the Saudi Heart Association.


Further information is available at www.ics2013.com.


- Gareth Wright, Total Communications Dubai also photos