Interprofessional.global, the World Confederation for Interprofessional Practice and Education has confirmed that Doha will host the tenth edition of the All Together Better Health (ATBH) conference in 2020, bringing the biennial event to the Middle East for the first time.

The conference is expected to gather more than 500 health and social care professionals, medical educators, policy makers, students as well as health service users from around the globe for a three-day program which addresses global health challenges against the backdrop of Qatar's state-of-the-art education and health facilities.

Dr Johanna Dahlberg, Chair of Interprofessional.global commented, ‘The confederation, with representations across the globe, welcomes the exciting opportunity for Qatar University (QU) to host the conference and recognises the development of interprofessional practice and education in the Middle East.’

Dr Egon Steen Toft, VP for Medical & Health Sciences at QU said, ‘Qatar University is proud to have landed this global congress in Qatar. It was a fierce competition and only accomplished thanks to the support from Qatar Tourism Authority. The congress will give the newly formed QU Health international recognition.’

This will not be the first time QU demonstrates its commitment to interprofessional leadership: in 2015, QU hosted the first Interprofessional Education Symposium followed by the First Middle Eastern Conference in Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice with the theme: New Frontiers in Healthcare Education.

Dr Alla El-Awaisi, College of Pharmacy Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and QU Health Chair of the Interprofessional Education Committee commented, ‘We are very much looking forward to organising this global conference and creating opportunities for the participants to relate IPE and collaborative practice to global strategies for health and health care and promote an interprofessional culture in both academic and practice settings.’

The bid to host ATBH in Qatar was led by Qatar University (QU) and supported by Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) as part of its efforts to attract global conferences and events to Qatar. This is the second successful bid the two organisations have collaborated on, following the bid which secured the International Conference on Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Regional Development, which will be hosted in October 2018.

Ahmed Al-Obaidli, Director of Exhibitions at QTA commented, ‘Attracting business events is a key part of Qatar's tourism sector strategy, especially as business visitors create a notable impact on the local economy.’

The 2018 edition of the biennial ATBH conference was held in Auckland, New Zealand between 3 and 6 September. At the upcoming edition, QU representatives delivered a presentation to the delegates introducing Qatar as host country for the next edition of ATBH. First held in London in 1997, ATBH conferences have met in Vancouver, London, Stockholm, Sydney, Kobe, Pittsburgh and Oxford. (QNA)

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