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Friday, October 3
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World's largest international congress
on respiratory disease meets in Berlin
Over five days, Berlin will be the world capital of
respiratory medicine, as this scientific and medical summit
gives a new boost to the fight against lung disease
More than 18,000 respiratory disease specialists will be heading to Berlin this weekend for
the 18th Annual Congress of the European Respiratory Society (ERS), the world's largest
annual scientific gathering in respiratory medicine.
Medical doctors, scientists, nurses, physiotherapists, medical equipment manufacturers and
pharmaceutical industry representatives from over 100 countries are eager to exchange
information on their latest discoveries, experiments, ideas and projects to beat lung disease.
This is a huge challenge, given that respiratory disease is the leading cause of death
worldwide, costing European countries over 100 billion euros each year, and that asthma
alone affects 300 million people globally.
The scope of the concerns addressed by respiratory medicine – and thus by the 18th ERS
Congress, which will be held at the Messe Berlin – is reflected in the number and variety of
the sessions on its agenda.
Including the various Symposia, the Free Communications sessions (oral presentations,
e-communications, or thematic posters), the "Meet the Professor” seminars, the Evening
Symposia, and the Postgraduate Courses, there are over 250 scientific sessions laid on for the
participants attending this year's Congress.
More than 4,000 original abstracts will be presented and discussed, providing an update on
the latest developments in lung disease research.
Participants will also be able to explore over 170 pharmaceutical industry booths in an
exhibition covering more than 12'000 square metres in two huge halls.
Material for great stories
While the majority (65%) of the delegates are, of course, pulmonologists, a further 10% are
paediatricians and 10% research scientists.
Some of the subjects for discussion at the Congress are also bound to capture the wider public
interest, though, and hence that of the media.
So a range of press releases on selected communications, as well as daily press conferences
organised in the Congress Media Centre, will provide journalists with first-rate material for
articles on exciting subjects.
To mention just a few: the discovery that even foetuses are harmed by air pollution; the fact
that asthma and sleep don't make good bedfellows; new treatments to put an end to chronic
cough; methods for detecting sleep apnoea at home; the discovery that anxious pregnant
women are more likely to have asthmatic children; and a new approach for the treatment of
severe emphysema.
Reaching out to society
The enormous impact of lung diseases is not fully recognised by the public and authorities.
The major purpose of an event like the ERS Annual Congress is to promote the exchange of
up-to-date knowledge between scientists and doctors working in the various specialties
related to the lungs. It also gives an opportunity for the diffusion of important information to
the general public and authorities on lung health and the socio-economic burden associated
with lung diseases.
Indeed, these activities are central to the ERS itself. Founded in 1990, the European
Respiratory Society (ERS) is a not-for-profit, international medical organisation with close to
9,000 members – scientists, doctors and allied health professionals – coming from over 100
countries.
The Society’s mission is to advance respiratory medicine by stimulating and coordinating the
actions of its members in order to achieve the highest possible medical, paramedical and
social standards in the treatment of respiratory disease.
Through its work, the ERS seeks to improve the prevention, management and treatment of
lung disease.
And this was what inspired it to organise, at the Berlin Congress for the first time ever, the
inaugural examination of the new European Diploma in Respiratory Medicine, with
participation by some 80 doctors from 27 countries.
Contact:
ERS Press office
Tel: +4122 322 13 22
E-mail: ers@cedosinternational.com
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