WCPD 2008 Congress Seeks Solutions For World's Diabetes Pandemic, Finland

Main Category: Diabetes
Also Included In: Conferences
Article Date: 17 Dec 2007 - 4:00 PST

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The 5th World Congress on Prevention of Diabetes and its Complications (WCPD 2008) will be held in Helsinki, Finland, on June 1-4, 2008. The Congress will present over a hundred lectures by top experts providing a great opportunity to meet colleagues and scientists from all over the world who also work to find better ways to prevent diabetes and its complications.

"The WCPD 2008 provides a great opportunity to share the latest scientific data and experiences on the prevention of diabetes and its complications, practical models and the tools for prevention of type 2 diabetes, and national, regional, and global strategies for combating the scourge of diabetes", says professor Pekka Puska, the President of the WCPD 2008 Congress.

Regarding prevention, Finland, and professor Pekka Puska have become known widely for the North Karelia Project in the 1970's and 1980's preventing heart diseases with great success. Finland is also in the forefront of type 2 diabetes prevention: the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study, lead by professor Jaakko Tuomilehto, proved for the first time that type 2 diabetes is preventable by lifestyle intervention.

"Now the Finnish National Diabetes Programme, DEHKO 2000-2010, has grown into an export product. The methods of the programme have already started to spread into other countries", cheers Ms Leena Etu-Seppälä, the leader of the DEHKO Programme from the Finnish Diabetes Association and now, the Secretary General of the WCPD 2008.

The Congress will be hosted jointly by the National Public Health Institute, Finland, and the Finnish Diabetes Association. The WCPD 2008 Congress will be co-organized by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Finland, the Main Supporting Organizations are International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and World Heart Federation (WHF) and the Partners are: Federation of European Nurses in Diabetes (FEND), the Public Health Institutes of the World (IANPHI), and the International Diabetes Epidemiology Group (IDEG).

The patron of the Congress is Tarja Halonen, President of the Republic of Finland. More information at http://www.wcpd2008.fi.