Wednesday, Apr 18, 2012
Gulf News
Dubai The head of the cardio department at Dubai Hospital has said winning the bid to host the World Cardiology Congress is a big achievement for the emirate.
Around 10,000 medical professionals are expected to be in Dubai today for the event.
Dr Obaid Al Jasem, cardiac surgeon and head of cardiothoracic surgery at Dubai Hospital, said Dubai beat four main competitors; Tokyo, Singapore, South Africa and Singapore for the honour.
“These countries are far [more] ahead than Dubai in organising such big conferences,” he said.
Dr Obaid said Dubai had been bidding for the past seven years, but before the Congress in Beijing in 2010, the emirate put all its resources into the bid.
“We gave it the final push, we involved various health authorities in Dubai to show that we have experience to host this type of big event,” he said. “There were a lot of conditions put and we met them.”
“It’s nice to win a bid to host an international sports event, but an event of this sort is important as many scientific papers [looking into the various causes and treatment of cardiovascular diseases] will be presented here,” said the doctor.
Opportunities
The World Heart Federation, which is the organiser of the event, will put Dubai on the international stage for an insight into the latest developments in science and public outreach in cardiovascular health.
This huge number of delegates will also inject Dh65 million into the emirate’s economy. They will bring an impressive amount of information, research and provide immense networking opportunities.
The bottom line will be how to prevent the growing epidemic of cardiovascular diseases.
By Mahmood Saberi ?Senior Reporter
Gulf News 2012. All rights reserved.
