Description: The 4th Partners Int’l Cardiovascular Conference is held in Dubai this week, bringing together the world’s leading authorities on cardiovascular disease to try to reduce its incidence across the Middle East and Africa.

“2008:A New Era for Cardiovascular Risk Reduction,” organised by Partners International Medical Services, is being held under the patronage of H. E. Humaid Mohamed Al Qutami, Health Minister of the UAE and is supported by an educational grant from Pfizer.



Predictions for the next two decades suggest a tripling of deaths from strokes and coronary heart disease (CHD) in the Middle East and Africa, a rate that exceeds that of any other region apart from Latin America.

As a result, the UAE Ministry of Health – along with the Ministries of every GCC nation – have made battling the incidence and impact of heart disease a key strategic target and are working to encourage greater coordination and cooperation between physicians across the region.

H.E. Dr. Ali Ahmed Bin Shakar, Undersecretary, Ministry of Health, UAE said: “Cooperation between international, regional and local specialists provides one important strand in our battle against cardiovascular diseases. Important new discoveries are being made everyday, both in terms of advancing the treatments available for patients, and ensuring that people are being advised correctly to help them avoid developing these serious diseases.”

“This event is an important platform for exchanging knowledge in this area, and we are proud to provide our support and expertise in helping it to achieve its objectives,” he added.

The conference is set to attract 200 leading specialists from across the Middle East and Africa, including some of the top experts in the field of cardiovascular health.

In an unprecedented move for a conference of this size and importance, sessions will also be broadcast live across the region via the internet to 500 pre-registered physicians.

This pioneering web-cast has been designed to ensure that the breakthrough research and new studies are shared with a broad cross-section of doctors, particularly those in remote locations, so that the benefits reach the widest possible patient population.

The objective of the meeting is to provide a forum for discussion of the latest data on the management of global cardiovascular risk. Essentially, the two-day scientific program will combine lectures and interactive case studies presented by opinion leaders in the field of cardiovascular diseases and provide a forum for discussion between faculty and audience.

Gilbert Mudge, MD, course organiser and member of the Harvard Faculty, said: “Part of the aim of this conference is to emphasize the newest advances in prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease that are of central long term consequence to this region of the word.”

“In particular, we will cover all aspects of risk reduction, including the most innovative therapy for smoking cessation. An international faculty will include physicians from Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Harvard Medical School as well as representatives from London and the Middle East,” he added.

“Pfizer is a long-term partner with Partners International Medical Services, as part of our commitment to helping drive research and increase awareness of recent advances and treatment updates,” said Dr. Ahmed El Hakim, Director of Policy and External Affairs, Pfizer Middle East.

Both the Middle East and Africa are seeing an upsurge in chronic illnesses, resulting from both demographic changes and lifestyle issues. Since 1980, obesity rates have tripled or more in some parts of the Middle East and Africa.

According to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, 16.7 million people around the globe die of CVD each year - some 29 percent of all deaths globally.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United Arab Emirates (41 percent) and conditions relating to heart disease are prevalent throughout the Middle East. The prevalence of hypertension in Kuwait, for example, is 26.3 percent, compared to 32.1 percent in Qatar, 45.3 percent in Egypt and 33 percent in Oman.

Photo caption: (Left to Right) Sherif Bakir, MD Consultant Cardiologist, Shaikh Khalifa Medical City, Abu Dhabi; Gilbert Mudge, MD Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School Senior Cardiologist, Senior Medical Advisor, Partners International; H.E. Ali Ahmed Bin Shakar, MD, Undersecretary, Ministry of Health UAE; Zeydan Abuissa, MD, General Manager, Pfizer, Arab Peninsula States; Andrew Eisenhauer, MD Director Cardiac Quality Assurance, Partners Healthcare