On behalf of the Organizing Committee of the 29th World Congress of Internal Medicine Buenos Aires 2008, and the Buenos Aires Society of Internal Medicine, we want to thank and  congratulate the authorities of the Executive Committee of the International Society of Internal Medicine letting the Society of Internal Medicine of Buenos Aires be for second time the place of  this important scientific event.

The next World Congress of Internal Medicine will take place in Buenos Aires at the venue of the Sheraton Hotel and Convention Center from September 16th to September 20th, 2008.

Near forty years ago Buenos Aires was honored and hosted the 8th International Congress of Internal Medicine, at that time, Prof Carlos Reussi was the Secretary, today Prof. Roberto Reussi President of the 29th ICIM cordially invites you

Many of the distinguished members of that Organizing Committee will be honored with lectures in this next World Congress.

As facts of that medical event we remember that there were near 1500 attendees, 98 lectures  and 287 communications were presented, from 34 countries of 4 continents.

But time has passed, and we are living in a world that has changed. Human health is a result of the interaction among different factors as religion, politics, economics, education and so on.

And those are things that we have to deal with as doctors, because the interaction of those factors will result in  healthcare policy and its sustainability.

We have to be prepared in response to what kind of doctors  we will need for the future to come; and that is part of our responsibility as members of medical societies that develop continuous medical education programs such as medical  congresses like this one we are going to attend.

According to the World Health Organization Report of 2003, population is growing at 1% per year, deaths account for the half of births, and the leading causes are 33% infections, 30% cardiopathy and stroke and 12% cancer, among others.

In that same report, we see that we will face  new threats as population ages.

Maybe the new scenario will change the most prevalent diseases, reflecting the new demographic changes, and therapeutic developments.

As population gets older, the consultation demand, number of drugs required, and associated pathologies will increase as well as costs; and that will be a real challenge to overcome, so we must be prepared to reduce time and means to make diagnosis, and to choose the most convenient treatment at the lowest cost possible. That is why we are training for.

We have also seen in the recent years mayor weather changes and catastrophic events that affects thousand of people in short periods of time, we must be prepared for its consecuences.

Globalisation brought advantages and disadvantages, perhaps the great epidemics of the 21st century will be: the result of tobacco use and COPD, obesity, sedentarism , diabetes, hypertension, heart failure, Alzheimer disease, stress and depression.

We will face great advances in diagnosis, perhaps the most important in imaging, genetic medicine, informatics and telemedicine.

And also great advances in therapeutics, mainly in the fields of inmunomodulation, minimal invasive surgery and regenerative medicine

But we have to be cautious, because conflicts of interest will be still ahead, and of course ethic conflicts mainly at the beginning of life , like abortion and genetic manipulation and at the end of life like good dying, and euthanasia.

We must also be trained in a sustainable patient – doctor relationship in this changing world, in which managed care has modified our behavior.

So, how do we face the change?, which is the right doctor for this time?
Is there a real conflict between internists and specialists?

•    We must train doctors  in internal medicine and in the association of pathologies to serve the needs of the people and to diminish inequality in our countries and between the countries.

•    Generalists require training in primary care, preventive medicine, gerontology, trauma, primary psichiatry and cost control

So our goals in Buenos Aires 2008 will be

•    Focus on changes already happening in healthcare, and how to face them

•    Integrate regional experiencies, know their pathologic features and possible application in other countries

•    Expose new trends in diagnosis and treatment

•    Approach internists and specialists to get a clinical profile from the specialists knowledge and adapt it to daily practice

•    Give the opportunity to every doctor in every country to present his experiences, results or difficulties

 Thank you very much for your kindly attention, looking forward to see you at the 29th World Congress of Internal Medicine Buenos Aires 2008.