Dubai, United Arab Emirates, September 19, 2018:  Under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and President of the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), the 13thInternational Association of Medical Regulatory Authorities (IAMRA) conference will take place from October 6-9 in Dubai.

DHA will host the conference in association with the 3rd Dubai Health Regulation Conference. This is the first time IAMRA is hosting a conference in the Middle East region. IAMRA has 113 members from 47 countries and the organization shares a common goal that patients should have access to highly qualified and competent medical staff.  

HE Humaid Al Qutami, Director General of the DHA thanked HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid for his patronage and for supporting this conference.

Al Qutami said, “Regulation plays a major role in the healthcare industry. Healthcare regulations and standards are necessary to ensure compliance and to provide safe healthcare to every individual who accesses the system.

“At the DHA, we pay great emphasis to ensuring we have a robust regulatory system, which we have built with inputs from both the private and public health sector. Conferences provide a platform for industry experts to discuss the latest advances in the field and network with an aim to enhance existing health systems. Dubai has several key factors that make it a preferred conference hosting destination.”

Al Qutami said that Dubai is proud to host the 1st IAMRA conference in the Middle East. 

Dubai emerged as one of the top 10 destinations for international meetings, according to the International Meetings Statistics Report 2017, published by the Union of International Associations, UIA.

The report ranked 1,157 cities globally based on the total number of international meetings that took place during the year. 

Dubai was the only city in the Middle East and Africa to appear in the top 25 in the rankings, further underlining its status as the region’s number one destination for international meetings and conferences.

Dr Marwan Al Mulla, CEO of Health Regulation Sector at the DHA said, “This conference will help discuss key topics and emerging trends in the field. It is in line with our aim to enhance existing regulatory systems to strengthen the health sector. Regulatory systems directly impact quality care provision.”

Dr Al Mulla added that with new technologies in healthcare such as blockchain, it is important for global experts to meet and discuss ways in which these technologies can improve regulatory processes and frameworks. 

The conference will host more than 700 attendees and 66 international speakers from 40 countries; will have 52 sessions, 7 workshops and will present 117 abstracts.  

Dr Humayun Chaudhry, Chair-Elect of (IAMRA) said, “The world’s medical regulators and healthcare officials are excited about coming to Dubai for the 13th International Conference on Medical Regulation. This is the first time we are meeting in Dubai and we are delighted to collaborate with the Dubai Health Authority.

“Outstanding experts and speakers from Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australasia are coming together to discuss timely topics such as patient safety, the role of technology in health care, medical education, and innovation and evidence in medical regulation.”

The main theme of the conference is empowering regulation with innovation and evidence.  The four sub-themes are: Safe Practice and Quality, Innovative Regulation Models, Medical Work Force and Medical Education.

Dr Al Mulla added, “Dubai welcomes medical professionals from all over the world and the UAE has developed a Unified Professional Qualification Requirement system, which provides a regulatory framework to streamline requirements for licensing medical professionals. Dubai has medical professionals from all over the world. This system has greatly benefitted the regulatory framework and we have presented it globally at various conferences. In future, we will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to enhance the system. This will provide added convenience to healthcare professionals in the Emirate as well as those who want to apply to work here.”

He said that there are more than 38,000 medical professionals in Dubai.

Dr Reem Osman, CEO of Saudi German Hospital in Dubai said, “We are proud to be one of the sponsors of this conference. Health regulation is key to ensure high-quality provision of care.”

Some of the key speakers at the conference include Dr Kevin Fong. He is a doctor at the University Congress Hospital in UK and specializes in anesthesia and intensive care. Dr Fong holds a degree in Astrophysics, Medicine and Engineering and has worked with NASA’s human space exploration programme at Johnson Space Centre in Houston.

He will discuss regulation in the age of acceleration.

On the sidelines of this conference, a regional World Health Organization (WHO) meeting, a meeting for the Federal State Medical Boards of the USA and certain IAMRA meetings will take place.

The conference partners are the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) and the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER)

The conference is supported by the Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) 

Some of the sponsors of the conference include Saudi German Hospital, Aster DM Healthcare, Medeor 24x7 Hospital- a unit of the VPS Healthcare, NMC Healthcare and Federation of State Medical Boards.