Beijing to Host Ninth Int'l Public Health CongressThe Ninth International Public Health Congress of the World Federation of Public Health Associations will be held on September 2-6 in Beijing.This was announced today at a ceremony on the Great Wall that attracted more than 100 Chinese and foreign public health experts. "The Great Wall represents challenges and barriers. By climbing up the wall, we hope to find a way to remove the barriers of public health and to meet the challenge of the new millennium," said Allen Jones, executive secretary of the World Federation of Public Health Associations. Wang Ke'an, director of the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, called on his foreign colleagues to take the upcoming meeting as an opportunity to work for the health of the people across the world. According to Dr. Mohammad Akhter, executive director of the American Public Health Association, the biggest challenge for public health experts in the new millennium is how to protect those vulnerable to diseases, such as smokers. More than 1,000 public health experts from 40 countries are expected to attend the five-day congress and discuss issues including the impact of the global economy and environmental changes on public health, the control over the tobacco industry, HIV and AIDS, oral and mental health, and the development of public health undertakings in China. The meeting is sponsored the China Preventive Medicine Association and the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, with the assistance from the World Health Organization, the United Nations' International Children's Education Fund, Population Fund and Food and Agriculture Organization, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and the Colgate-Palmolive Company. |
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