Health | Medical forum gathers local and international experts

The 30th Sino-Luso International Medical Forum finished on Sunday after a three-day international medical symposium at the Landmark ICBC Centre.
The event was organized by the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) and the Macau Healthcare Management and Promotion Association, with around 300 medical staff from public and private hospitals and clinics attending presentations conducted by medical experts from Macau, Portugal, Hong Kong, the US and Sweden.
Mário Évora, clinical director and head of the Cardiology division at Conde S. Januário General Hospital, told the Times that the forum paves the way for Macau’s medical staff to discover “good ideas that can be good solutions” for specific health problems in the region, especially given that the academic level of participants “usually is very high.”
“We have excellent speakers coming from abroad, and it’s particularly important for us in Macau because we do not have at this moment […] an academy of medicine,” said Évora.
Billy Chan, vice president of the Sino-Luso International Medical Forum, emphasized the importance of up-to-date information for the professional development of health care practitioners.
He also pointed out that the symposium is an opportunity to establish cooperation and build bridges on an international level.
“This particular forum is interesting because it is a multi-disciplinary approach […] this time we bring in a variety of very smart experts in the field from overseas to Macau.”
Chan also revealed that the seminar would be expanded into an Asia-Pacific forum but would remain under the umbrella of the Sino-Luso International forum.
“We want to see this to continue. […] So for the next one [forum] in May we’ll be inviting people from Cambodia. People will also be coming from Belgium, the UK, outside the Portuguese-speaking countries,” said Dr Chan, who is also the director of the Center of Excellence for Medical Professional Development at MUST.
Moreover, the director said that the forum will be bringing Chinese experts and government officials to Portugal for a meeting with Lusophone countries’ medical experts.