HWB 2014 - The Asian Symposium on Healthcare Without Borders

Rapid economic development across Asia has brought about vast improvement in the health care industry with some traditional health metrics, such as infant mortality rate and infectious disease rate among others, decreasing while life expectancy across the board is increasing. However, this rosy and simplified view masks the sharp health care disparities underlying Asian nations as well as the diverse challenges they face.
Many factors from the varying levels of social, political and economic development to geology and climate change, which have been responsible for the recent earthquakes and seasonal typhoons and floods, have been reshaping the continent and spawning critical healthcare questions in need of tangible solutions. In Southern Asia, 1 in 16 children die before the age of five because of the effects of poverty and the absence of quality health care. Although life expectancy is increasing in the region, at 64 years, it desperately lags behind the rest of Asia. How can we ensure the equitable and efficient allocation of health-related resources across all Asia to meet basic needs and emergencies? What role can policy makers play in creating affordable universal health care?
On the other end of the spectrum, well-developed nations like Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore boast a life expectancy over 80 years old. This fact raises many questions concerning health policies including: How to address the aging populations and their subsequent ballooning health care costs, as well as the rising number of both non-communicable and dietary diseases, which severely affect all of Asia.
The 2014 Asian Symposium on Healthcare Without Borders will be held in Hiroshima, Japan: The City of Peace. The three-day international symposium will coincide with the 69th Hiroshima Peace Memorial. All participants of the symposium will be invited to attend the ceremony. There will also be a free guided tour and a featured presentation by a survivor of the atomic bombing.
Healthcare Without Borders 2014 will provide an interdisciplinary platform for physicians, nurses, administrators, educators, researchers, academics, medical students, humanitarian aid workers, policy makers, non-profit professionals and related healthcare specialists. With the theme Enhancing Quality Health Care Through Collaboration, it is hoped that today’s challenges in health care can be met with viable global solutions.
Themes
Biomedicine and Bioinformatics
Biotechnology and Bioengineering
Complementary and alternative medicine
Critical care management
Dental health / Oral health
Dermatology
Drug development and pharmacology / toxicology
e-Health / m-Health / Telemedicine
Emergency room healthcare
Family medicine / General practice
Food safety / Foodborne illness
Geriatrics / Gerontology
Healthcare administration and policies
Healthcare business and data management
Immunology and epidemiology of major diseases
Intensive care management
Communicable / non-communicable diseases
Medical education
Medical ethics
Neurology
Nursing informatics
Nursing practice and education
Nutrition and dietetics
Obstetrics and gynecology
Occupational therapy
Oncology
Palliative care
Pathology
Pediatric care
Physical therapy
Psychiatry / Mental health
Public health / Community health
Sexual health
Ubiquitous healthcare (u-Health)
Special topics
Developing countries: providing aid in insecure environments
Developing countries: access to healthcare
Developing countries: appropriate healthcare technologies
Environmental health and climate change
Ethical issues in globalization of healthcare
Evaluating global healthcare
Millennium development goals: 2015 and beyond
Smart homes and ambient assisted living
Social work leadership in healthcare