“CONFLICT MEDICINE CONGRESS IN A REGION OF TURMOIL”

 For more than a century, the American University Medical Center – Faculty of Medicine has played a pivotal role in the evolution of health care in the region. During the Lebanese 1982 civil war, and the intervening invasion, the AUBMC was central in the treatment of the victims of a war that left 250,000 killed and over a million injured. For 16 years our institution treated victims from all sides of the conflict developing an expertise that was unsurpassed in the management of war related injuries.

Over the past decade, the AUBMC has been at the center of healthcare for the victims of regional conflicts. Following the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the destruction of its health system the AUBMC became an important destination for thousands of Iraqi patients seeking treatment for full range of afflictions including conflict related injuries. With the outbreak of the Syrian conflict, the AUBMC became treating victims of the ensuing civil war in ever-greater numbers.

Building on this experience, the Middle East Medical Assembly 2017 has chosen to host the first International Conflict Medicine Congress. Conflict Medicine is an interdisciplinary field dedicated to the study and treatment of the health consequences of conflict with a focus on the pathological, psychological and social manifestations of war wounds. Building on evidence-based knowledge and practice, the congress aims to provide a platform for the exchange of experience and expertise between regional and international health practitioners (from civilian, academic and military institutions) in addition to governmental and non-governmental agencies in the field. It will also create the setting to forge partnerships between different stakeholders to provide solutions that ameliorate the consequences of conflict.

Towards that end numerous humanitarian, governmental and non-governmental organizations will participate in the congress which will be very attractive for all those interested in Conflict Medicine.

Middle East Medical Assembly May 11-14, 2017 ,
American University of Beirut

MEMA Chairperson: Imad Kaddoura, MD, FACS
MEMA Co-Chairperson: Ghassan Abu Sitta, FRCS