Riyadh, April 15, SPA -- The Riyadh-based King Fahd Medical City (KFMC) in collaboration with the National & Gulf Center for Evidence Based Medicine (NGCEBM) will organize the 4th Saudi Annual EBM Conference and Workshop here from April 19-22, 2008.

The Conference and the Workshop are being convened underthe title of "Applying Evidence, Present and Future".

Dr. Haya Al Fozan ,Consultant, In-vitro Fertilization Unit, King Abdulaziz Medical City and NGCEBM Director said this conference is the fourth of its kind that is held in Saudi Arabia .

NGCEMB held its First Conference ever at King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh in 2006 which was about "Revival of Evidence Based Medicine (EBM)."

The Second Conference held at King Abdulaziz Medical City in Ahsa focused on challenges facing EBM.

The Third EBM Conference was held in Jeddah in collaboration with King Abdulaziz Medical city in the port city in 2007.

Referring to the Fourth Conference, she said it will be annexed with Four Workshops spread over Three days of deliberations to discuss topics based on the basics of EBM, training cadres and the basics of health care based on evidence and comprehensive analysis of the evidence.

In the 1990s, Evidence-Based Medicine emerged as a way to improve and evaluate patient care.

It involves combining the best research evidence with the patient's values to make decisions about medical care.

Looking at all available medical studies and literature that pertain to an individual patient or a group of patients helps doctors to properly diagnose illnesses, to choose the best testing plan, and to select the best treatments and methods of disease prevention.

Using evidence-based medicine techniques for large groups of patients with the same illness, doctors can develop practice guidelines for evaluation and treatment of particular conditions.

In addition to improving treatment, such guidelines can help individual physicians and institutions measure their performance and identify areas for further study and improvement, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

It is worth mentioning that NGCEBM is officially recognized by the GCC ministers of Health as an EBM referral center for Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region. A decree was issued containing this recognition during the 57th conference held in Geneva on 19th of May, 2004 (Decree 6 item 3).

© Saudi Press Agency 2008