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INVITATION
TO THE 8TH GHA CARDIOVASCULAR CONFERENCE
The field of cardiovascular medicine and its
sub-specialties are advancing at a rapid
pace. It is becoming hard for general
cardiologists, let alone internists and
general practitioners, to keep up with the
changes and progress in this field.
The Gulf Heart Association (GHA) is the main
cardiovascular society in seven Arab
countries forming the Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC). They are: Bahrain, Kuwait,
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, UAE,
and Yemen. The GHA with its specialized
members and international visitors aim at
spreading knowledge in the prevention and
management of cardiovascular disease. It is
a must for all practicing cardiovascular
specialists to be familiar with such new
knowledge and to incorporate these new
strategies in their practice.
The main goal of the GHA is to improve
cardiovascular care in the GCC states. One
of the important ways to achieve this goal
is to gain new knowledge and master new
skills through attending scientific
conferences such as this 8th annual GHA
meeting. We hope that with such a conference
the GHA will help raise the quality of
health care in general and cardiovascular
health in particular.
To fulfill the objectives of the GHA,
improve the quality and raise the standard
of cardiac care in the GCC, the GHA has
conducted and will continue to pursue the
following activities since its creation in
2002:
• Conduct scientific conferences and
symposia.
• Carry on scientific research on
cardiovascular diseases. The GHA acute
coronary syndrome registry is well known as
the only successful collaborative
multicenter medical study in the Gulf, the
results of which are published in several
leading international cardiovascular
journals. This study had a good impact on
our practice. There are at this time other
studies started by GHA such as atrial
fibrillation.
• Publish professional periodicals and
information hoping to establish criteria for
GCC cardiovascular specialists to meet high
standards of competence and expertise with:
a) Several pocket guidelines on
cardiovascular management are published by
the society such as Acute Coronary Syndrome,
ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction and
Venous Thrombo-Embolism.
b) Heart Views as the GHA official journal.
Website: (http://www.gulfheart.org/)
• Create professional, educational, and
social ties among members of GHA.
• Create links and cooperation with
international medical institutions and
professional societies such as ESC and ACC.
The GHA seeks to suggest new laws to be
adopted by the GCC countries for the
prevention of cardiac disease and advance
the care of patients with heart disease.
GHA is a torch for science and cooperation
among us for the progress of our profession
and to provide advanced care to the citizens
of our beloved GCC states.
Each GCC country takes its turn in hosting
the annual GHA conferences. The first
conference was held in Doha, Qatar in 2002.
Now after all the GCC countries had an
opportunity to host the GHA conference once,
it is coming back to Doha as the 8th GHA
conference in April 8-10, 2010 to start a
new circle of rotation. The GHA is planning
to make this coming conference a model
conference and a leap forward in its topics,
organization, participation and attendance.
We are pleased that both the American
College Of Cardiology and the European
Society Of Cardiology will have joint
sessions with our GHA in this meeting.
Several hundred participants have already
registered online for attending the
workshops. Besides the GHA members and other
cardiologists in the GCC countries, several
regional cardiac societies' presidents and
representatives from Jordan, Egypt, Syria,
Lebanon and Tunisia among others will join
us in Doha in April.
I would like to take this opportunity to
invite all health care professionals to
attend, help and participate in our GHA
activates.
Teach us and learn from us.
Hajar Ahmed Albinali, MD, F.A.C.C., F.E.S.C.,
F.G.H.A
GHA President
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