WMA General Assembly Washington Oct 2 to 6 2002
The World Medical Association is holding its annual General Assembly in Washington DC, USA from October 2 to 6.
The conference will be held at the Capital Hilton Hotel and the main topic will be the scientific session on Thursday 3 October and Friday 4 October, “Responding to the Growing Threat of Terrorism and Biological Weapons”. The programme, produced below, has been arranged by the American Medical Association and includes some of the world’s leading speakers on these issues.
On Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday the WMA will hold its committee, Council and Assembly meetings, all of which are open to the media. Issues to be debated will include sustainability of health systems, workforce and migration, the Declaration of Helsinki, the safe use of injections and patient safety.
On Wednesday there will be an HIV/AIDS panel to discuss the physicians’ role in the prevention and management of HIV/AIDS.
If you have not already received an invitation from the American Medical Association and would like to attend the meeting, please could you let me know.
Scientific Session Programm
“Responding to the growing threat of Terrorism and Biological Weapons”
Thursday 3 October
9:15am Bioterrorism: Present Realities and Future Prospects DA Henderson, MD, MPH Center for Civilian Biodefense, Baltimore, USA
9:45am The Promise and Peril of the Biotechnology Revolution
George Poste, DVM, PhD Chief Executive Health Technology Networks, Gilbertsville PA, USA
10:30am World-Wide Perspective of Infectious Diseases David Heymann, MD
Executive Director, Communicable Diseases Cluster World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
11:00am-12noon Panel Session: Epidemic Response to Bioweapons and Infectious Diseases Moderator: James Hughes, MD Director, National Center for Infectious Diseases Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta GA, USA
- Detection and Response to Deliberately Caused Anthrax in the US Julie Gerberding, MD Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta GA, USA
- Accidental Exposure to Anthrax in Russia, 1979 David Walker, MD Professor and Chairman, Department of Pathology University of Texas at Galveston Director, WHO Collaborating Center for Tropical Diseases Galveston TX, USA
1:30-2:30pm Panel Session, Continued
- Marburg and Ebola Viruses Bob Swanepoel, PhD Divisional Head, Special Pathogens Unit National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Hong Kong Flu (Influenza H5N1) – the threat of pandemic infleunza Nancy J Cox MD Chief, Influenza Branch Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta GA, USA
- Hong Kong Flu (Influenza H5N1) ? the H5 outbreak and subsequent response
John Siu-Lun Tam, PhD Professor, Department of Microbiology Chinese University of Hong Kong, China
2:30-3:30pm Panel Session: Smallpox Moderator: DA Henderson, MD, MPH
- Smallpox as a Bioweapon DA Henderson, MD, MPH
- Experiences in Smallpox Eradication in Asia Ciro de Quadros, MD, MPH
Director, Special Program for Vaccines and Immunization Pan American Health Organization, Washington DC, USA
3:45-4:30pm Panel Session, Continued
- Smallpox Vaccine: Production and Availability Phil Russell, MD Senior Adviser to the Chairman Sabin Vaccine Institute, Rockville MD, USA
Friday 4 October
9:00-10:15am Session: Working Together Internationally for Bioweapons Prevention. Moderator: Ambassador Tibor Toth, Hungary President of the Fifth Review Conference of States Parties to the BWC Chairman of the Ad Hoc Group of the States Parties to the Biological Weapons Convention
- The Protective Management of Biotechnology John D Steinbruner, PhD
Professor of Public Policy at the University of Maryland Director, the Center for International and Security Studies Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution and Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences - Possible Prevention Activities Tara O’Toole, MD, MPH Director, Center for Civilian Biodefense
Strategies Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD, USA
10:30-11:30am Panel Session: Communicating Bioterrorism Threats to the Public. Moderator: Sanjay Gupta, CNN (invited) Panel: Bill Broad, The New York Times Mary Walsh, CBS Evening News
11:30-12:15pm Panel Session: The Role of Physicians and Medical Associations in Preventing and Managing Bioterrorism Moderator: Sir David Carter, MD Chairman, Board of Science and Education, British Medical Association Panel: Regional Perspectives
- Latin America
Enrique Accorsi MD
Chile
President of WMA - Europe
Anders Milton MD, PhD
President, Swedish Red Cross,
and Past WMA Chairman of Council - North America
Richard F Corlin MD
Past President, American Medical Association