Region's first allergy congress treats delegates to biennial prospect

Another 400 visitors attended the accompanying medical exhibition.

Exhibitors from 29 companies, including global brands AstraZeneca, GSK, Schering-Plough, UCB Pharma, Stallergens, Pfizer, Novartis, Merck Sharp & Dohme, HVD and Dubai Convention Bureau took part in the ground-breaking event at the InterContinental Hotel, Dubai Festival City, alongside other medical and pharmaceutical firms.

During the four-day event, the world's leading experts spoke on asthma, rhinitis, food allergies, occupational allergies and skin allergies. Experts from the region discussed regional perspectives during a high-level scientific exchange on the etiology, epidemiology and disease patterns that exist in different parts of the world.

Exhibitor Abdulla Hamed, Customer Manager - Respiratory & MSP at Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) in Abu Dhabi, stressed the Congress was an unique opportunity for MSD to involve itself in the educational aspects of allergies and asthma.

He said:

"We do this whenever there is a chance to support medical education. This is our ultimate goal. For us, MEAAAIC is not about promoting products, but about our role in furthering education on the subject of asthma. In terms of the quality of the attendees and the number of attendees and the quality of the speakers and the number of speakers, definitely this was a successful congress."

Another exhibitor from a leading pharmaceutical firm commented: "In the medical field such Congresses are an obligation for the industry to support. They are not so much sales-focused as an opportunity to upgrade doctors' knowledge for the benefit of patients."

Rossen Boer, Medical Director of the Allergies Division at Belgium-based UCB Pharma, praised the Congress: "Attendance is by far better than we had expected for a first event of its kind in the region. What I liked about this Congress is that [exhibiting] companies were not allowed to be in touch with the speakers prior to the Congress, so there was no influence in their presentations."

Delegate Dr Ahmed Eldin, Consultant Pediatrician (Emergency) at King Faisal Specialist Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, said: "It's been a mix of the academic and the practical. I've learnt a lot more about allergic rhinitis and asthma. Allergies are becoming a very common problem in this area. I have noticed many more patients being referred to me with allergies to foods and pollens, for instance."

Dr Eldin stressed that raising awareness and concentrating on prevention, rather than treatment, was the best way to solve the problem and to cut medical costs. "With more than 1,400 delegates," he added, "I think this has been a very good conference. An excellent job and a very professional attitude. I shall certainly be back for the next one."

Headline-making news from the event included the shocking statistic that allergies can cost the MENA region over $2.5bn each year in direct medical costs, time off work and sluggish productivity, according to a new report unveiled at the Congress. Approximately 50m people in the MENA region are affected by allergies at an estimated cost of $500 per person per year, according to the MEAAAIC report.

Professor Ruby Pawankar, Treasurer of the World Allergy Organization and Chair of the Dubai event, said she was overwhelmed with the response to MEAAAIC: "We had initially expected 600 delegates for this meeting that's being held for the very first time, but we crossed the 1,400 line and had to close further registrations. The Congress has been extremely successful.

"The feedback that we have received is that this Congress is on a par with that held in the United States at the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology (ACAAI). Scientifically, people have given it seven stars and organization-wise they say it's even 10 stars. People are asking for this to be held every year because there is a complete absence of this type of meeting in the region."

Discussions are underway to hold MEAAAIC every two years.

Professor Pawankar added that the major highlights of MEAAAIC in Dubai were the programs organized by the World Allergy Organization (WAO) in collaboration with the ACAAI, the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy & Immunology (AAAAI) and the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI).

"These are educational programs as well as advocacy programs. The WAO, along with the AAAAI met with leaders from 17 MENA countries to discuss how the WAO can help them in forming national societies to meet some of their unmet needs."

The MEAAAIC was co-organized by the Lebanese Society of Allergy and Immunology, the Asian Allergy Asthma Foundation, the Emirates Respiratory Allergy Society and the Dubai Health Authority, and supported by the Ministry of Health of UAE, and Emirates Medical Association Several world organizations like the WAO, ACAAI, AAAAI and EAACI also partnered in this effort. The Congress was managed by MCI Middle East.