Health 2000 Congress Montreal, Canada, October 1 to 5, 2000: Major International Health Congress in Canada Focuses on the Future.

Business Editors

MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 5, 2000

Experts Say It is Time to Approach Problems in Healthcare

With a Business Mindset

Several thousand delegates, across a wide range of disciplines, will congregate in MONTREAL OCTOBER 1-5, to take part in an interdisciplinary exchange that will help shape the XXIst Century. Questions raised will include: the application of private-sector disciplines to public institutions, the move towards ambulatory services, the personal responsibility of patients towards their own well-being, the true potential of telecommunications in medical practice, the modalities of forming international partnerships and networks, and the disparities between North and South.

The programme is structured around five themes of particular relevance at this time: BIOTECHNOLOGY, TELEMEDICINE, AMBULATORY CARE, ETHICS, and ECONOMY AND OPTIMAL HEALTHCARE MANAGEMENT. On the first day, October 1st, participants will look at the integration of health services at a macro level, whereas on the days following they will focus on five specialty areas: cancer, cardiology, infectiology, mental health, and human development and aging. Each day will begin with an overview of the latest developments in a given field; during the rest of the day, the same speciality area will be looked at from the prism of each theme - during a succession of conferences, presentations, round-table discussions and panels.

Some 150 SPEAKERS - from FIVE CONTINENTS - will give presentations, thus affording a world perspective on health. Most of them have pioneered an approach that holds future potential. The sharing of such ideas is the very raison d'etre of the Health 2000 Congress - believed to be a first in its field.

Health 2000 is presented by the International Association of Health Professions (IAHP) and the Association of Health Industries Partners (AHIP), in conjunction with Canada Economic Development (CED), the U.S. Department of Commerce and private-sector companies such as GlaxoWellcome and Merck Frosst. The IAHP is a member of the World Union of Liberal Professions, which is accredited by the United Nations, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The AHIP is an umbrella group for four major associations related to the health industries. The event has received the prestigious Trade Fair Certification from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Health 2000 has become a fulcrum for a host of related activities. THE VTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE MEDICAL ASPECTS OF TELEMEDICINE will be held concurrently, from October 2 to 4, along with the 2nd Annual Meeting of the International Society for Telemedicine (ISfT) and the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Telehealth (CST). The AQFIM (Association quebecoise des fabricants de l'industrie medicale) will host the Award Ceremony for its INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH COMPETITION at Health 2000, on Monday, October 2. Medical Top and Pharma Top, regrouping the most important editors in the world in the field of health, will hold their annual meeting in Montreal, on October 5 and 6. And the topmost prize in the field of pharmaceuticals, the PRIX GALIEN INTERNATIONAL, will be awarded during Health 2000, for the first time in North America. The crux of the Congress will be the promulgation of the MONTREAL DECLARATION ON THE HUMAN GENOME at its Closing Ceremonies, on Thursday October 5; a Canadian initiative, the Declaration is a statement aimed at preventing genetic discrimination throughout the world.

An on-site exhibition will showcase hundreds of new products and services, some of them grouped in SIX NATIONAL AND FOUR THEMATIC PAVILIONS. As Montreal prepares for the merger of several medical institutions into the futuristic two billion dollar CHUM (Centre hospitalier de l'Universite de Montreal) and MUHC (McGill University Health Centre), this exhibition presents a prime commercial opportunity. Montreal is one of North America's most important centres of medical and pharmaceutical research.

For full information on the Health 2000 Congress: www.health2000.org