Healthcare | Saturday 28 March, 2015 1:45 am |

The International Family Medicine Conference and Exhibition concluded today after three days of extensive scientific topics delivered by the most prominent experts and specialists in the Family Medicine field from the region. The scientific program featured more than 10 scientific sessions and 3 workshops in addition to more than 42 poster presentations.

More than 43 speakers took the stage and discussed pressing medical issues that confront the family doctors and the community in general. Topics of the second day revolved around Chronic Illnesses such as Diabetes and the Cardio Vascular Disease. However, by the end of the third day, IFM has ended up with two important sessions dedicated to the prevalence of common diseases in the region.

Dr. Ibtesam Al Bastaki, Scientific Chairperson of the IFM Conference said in her presentation that diabetes has become a very common disease in the UAE. She also said: “Latest statistics shows that 18% of the UAE population are diabetic. We tried throughout the IFM conference to share with the participants some of the common problems facing the doctors, physicians and practitioners. Some of the sessions were dedicated to Diabetes Management, in addition to communication skills between families and physicians and also the community.”

“IFM this year also focused on communication skills and evidence based on medicine. In addition, there were other sessions that were primarly important to the system of healthcare such as: fee for service and comprehensive care.” Continued Dr. Al Bastaki

The third day sessions tackled senior citizens. All speakers agreed that Senior Citizens is the future topic and shed the light on a number of related topics. Dr. Salwa Alsuaidi, Specialist Senior Register, Geriatrics Director – Family Medicine at the DHA discussed senior citizens issues in her session during the last day of IFM conference.

In her presentation, Dr. Salwa mentioned that Senior Citizens are people aged 60 and above; as per the WHO, and this category is rapidly growing. “There will be more than 1.2 billion people above the age of 60 in 2025 globally. However, by 2050 the number of senior citizens will reach 2 billion with 80% of them living in developing countries.” said Dr. Salwa
She also added: “The percentage of local Emirati citizens above the age of 60 represents 5.2% of the population nowadays. And in 2032, the number will increase by 11% and it will also increase by 19% in 2050. In addition, the UAE has one of the highest life expectancy in the Middle East. Although life expectancy in the 60s was 53 years old, now it reached 76 for female and 74 for males. This creates a challenge for the UAE as a growing young developing country to be able to provide needed services for this fast growing population, and by services we mean medical and social services.”

The scientific program for last day featured brain health such as Demnisia and Alzheimer, also the topics discussed the recent advances in this field and the services available in addition to discussing longevity, aging and the method of prevention that would lead to active aging in addition to rehabilitation.

Family Medicine will keep focusing on health promotion and health prevention and the prevalence of diseases in the region by exchanging knowledge between different expertise from all over the world.