COA Co-Builds New International Cooperation Platform with Global Orthopedic Society Presidents and CEOs

BEIJING, Dec. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- The International President Forum (IPF) advocating the establishment of an international cooperation platform to promoting high-level medical services through education, research and best clinical practices and the CEO Forum aiming at setting up a platform fro communication between government departments, orthopedic specialists and enterprises were held during the Chinese Orthopedic Association (COA) 2011 Congress. COA2011 adopted a broad international vision and presented attendants with a world-class gathering and numerous highlights. For the first time, COA 2011 Congress gathered world-class experts, presidents of international orthopaedic societies, presidents of more than 60 national orthopaedic societies, industry opinion leaders, and CEOs of leading orthopaedic companies in the world, and effectively built a China-centered platform for international cooperation. Through the platform, the Congress fostered global discussions. It also featured new perspectives on China's current healthcare reforms through the eyes of doctors and offered innovative solutions. Through COA, efforts were made to provide a model to developing countries and even developed countries to help them reducing medical costs and coping with the global financial crisis together. More than 15,000 guests from over 80 countries witnessed this grand international gathering of milestone significance.

The global financial crisis has struck a heavy economic blow to various countries. The severity of the crisis has far exceeded people's expectations. But, what is the cause of the crisis? Is "Subprime debt" the sole reason? In the course of accelerating aging and globalization, rapidly rising medical costs have become a heavy financial burden on all countries and a difficult issue worldwide. Medical insurance cost control has become a hot topic of reach around the world. COA has precisely adopted this perspective to see the financial crisis and looked for its causes from the medical insurance system level. As medical insurance expenditure soars, the public medical insurance sector faces a mounting pressure, bringing a heavy burden on society. Medical insurance system reforms are urgently needed. The pressing need to address this challenge is to look for effective solutions to control medical insurance costs, reduce the misuse, abuse and insufficient use of medical services, improve service quality to patients and make medical services affordable to the public.

As the world population increases, a reverse pyramid-shaped population age structure has emerged, with the decreasing young population and a growing old population. Forecasts show that urban population aging will continue to intensify. Bone and joint diseases, confections due to traffic accident traumas and other diseases causing high disability rates have affected millions of people worldwide in terms of quality of life and rising nursing costs, placing a heavy burden on society. It is now urgently needed to pay attention to and cope with these threats. How to successfully address these threats was precisely the theme of the IPF. IPF is committed to establishing a platform for exchanges of views amongst the leaders of national/regional societies of orthopaedics and the sub-specialties to foster better understanding on subjects of mutual interest and advancement, including clinical practice, education, research and advocacy, thus integrating global resources and global technological strategies to actively cope with the above grave challenges. More than 100 world-class topic doctors and experts representing over 70 international orthopaedic organizations joined IPF, setting a record in the world orthopaedic field.

To emphasize the influence of this international gathering and fully leverage existing professional knowledge and resources, IPF adopted and released a Beijing Declaration. The theme of COA2011 was CARE, namely Co-operation, Accomplishment, Responsibility and Evolution. Taking this logo further into the context of the global orthopaedic community, the theme for the Beijing Declaration is also CARE: Co-operation, Advocacy, Research and Education.

The Beijing Declaration called for:

• Cooperation – initiate a platform to enhance global and national collaboration and partnership among the professions,  industries and related patient organisations and disciplines
• Advocacy - appeal to the government to increase health funding, to utilize evidence to decrease medical cost and to improve medical insurance coverage in society
• Research - emphasize translational and interdisciplinary research with clinical application
• Education - maximize the global network of web-based learning and encourage international exchanges
• Patient CARE - Promulgate best practice models for musculo-skeletal trauma, joint diseases, osteoporosis,  tendon and ligament disorders, and childhood conditions with specific reference to quality assurance, patient safety and medical ethics.

IPF has set up a working group to discuss specific projects to implement the Beijing Declaration as an extension of such development impetus. It also plans to hold a follow-up forum at COA 2012 Beijing to exchange experience, evaluate results and further strengthen this international initiative.

Wang Yan, Chairman of COA2011 said, "COA offers an ideal platform for international cooperation in academic exchanges, knowledge update and continuous education. I am proud to have this opportunity to pioneer an international advocacy like the Beijing Declaration, work with the international community and partners and get ready for promoting medical services in the orthopaedic field. We call for the establishment of a high-efficiency, high quality healthcare system which features level-by-level insurance, wide coverage, and attention to EBM and Medical Ethics! Our current cooperation with the industry chain and leading foreign doctors and research institutions will lead to practical products which reach the relevant international quality standard and are affordable to ordinary patients."

The financial crisis has forced more people out of work. Due to lack of medical insurance, poverty-stricken groups even face a crisis of survival. To maintain basic sustenance conditions, it is essential to improve insurance systems in various countries. Healthcare reforms worldwide are all designed to improve medical quality and reduce medical costs. New challenges give rise to new topics. The CEO Forum, attended by CEOs of several leading orthopaedic companies in the world, focused on medical insurance and attempted to provide innovative solutions for healthcare reforms from institutional and global perspectives. The CEO Forum looked into the future development of orthopaedics worldwide. Participating delegates explored global insurance issues together, key areas of orthopaedic research and development, key factors for the manufacturing of "hi-tech, low-cost" products", and key issues in marketing and regulatory mechanisms. In addition, the Forum also proposed to establish the World Orthopaedic Association (WOA) in an effort to maintain global partnerships between leading institutions in the world orthopaedic circles and provide an effective platform for discussing and defining global agendas. The successful staging of the CEO Forum has not only provided solutions for promoting healthcare reforms but also mustered support for economic development in various countries.

COA is firmly forging ahead with its solemn mission to "push forward interracial cooperation and exchanges, design and make cost-effective products for patients and let more people enjoy a better life"!

About the COA Congress

The COA Congress is a leading annual academic orthopaedic meeting organized by the Chinese Orthopaedic Association. International in nature, the Congress builds on the successes of international academic conferences and incorporates the unique elements of Chinese academic meetings. Thanks to the concerted efforts and cooperation from the concerned departments of the Chinese Medical Society, the Chinese Orthopaedic Association, provincial orthopaedic speciality committees and the Hong Kong orthopaedic circles in the past 5 years, the COA Congress has now become the largest medical conference in China. It has gradually come into line with international practices and become an internationally-known orthopaedic academic event with Chinese characteristics.

SOURCE The COA Congress