Day 2 - Thursday, 4 May 2006
9:00 a.m. � 5:00 p.m. (Singapore time)

Some 500 scientists, public-health experts, and policy makers will be convening at the inaugural Lancet Asia Medical Forum on pandemic influenza in Singapore tomorrow.

Close to 300 international organisations from 52 countries will be represented at the 2-day event (3-4 May).

The Forum will host talks from 23 experts in avian and pandemic influenza. Speakers include:

Professor John Oxford,
Professor of Virology at St Bartholomew's and the Royal London Hospital, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, UK

Professor Leo Yee Sin,
Clinical Director, Communicable Disease Centre, Singapore

Professor Roy M Anderson,
Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, London, UK Dr Martin Meltzer,
Senior Health Economist, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA

Dr Robert G Webster,
Rose Marie Thomas Chair, Department of Infectious Diseases, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA

Dr Jai P Narain,
Communicable Diseases, WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia, New Delhi, India

The sessions include:

• Overviews of human and avian influenza worldwide
• Evolution of avian influenza viruses
• Molecular determinants of influenza host range and interspecies transmission
• Clinical manifestations of the H5N1 virus
• Development of vaccines against pandemic influenza
• Identifying the gaps in pandemic preparation

John McConnell, Editor of The Lancet Infectious Diseases, states: "The gathering of distinguished speakers and delegates in Singapore represents an unprecedented opportunity to discuss the threat of a flu pandemic and the p
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Contact: Joe Santangelo
j.santangelo@elsevier.com
212-633-3810
Lancet
2-May-2006