BEIJING, July 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2016 China Diabetes Prevention and Rehabilitation & Health Industry Development Summit, co-organized by the Beijing Association of Chinese Medicine, the China Association for Diabetes Prevention and Rehabilitation, and Capital Medical University School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, in partnership with the Global Stevia Institute, will be held in Beijing in mid-October, 2016.
Diabetes, one of the most common chronic diseases worldwide, can cause serious complications such as diabetic nephropathy, diabetic retinopathy and macroangiopathy. This year, diabetes has once again received widespread attention worldwide. On April 7, in honor of World Health Day, the World Health Organization published its first-ever Global Report on Diabetes, stressing that diabetes is a serious chronic disease and a major public health problem as both the number of cases and the prevalence of diabetes have been steadily growing. Although still a developing country, China has a huge absolute number of cases of diabetes among adults. According to statistics released by the Chinese Diabetes Society in 2014, China had 158 million patients with diabetes, with the prevalence rate rising to 11.6% from 9.7% in 2009, and 330 million people with abnormal blood sugar levels. Every year, 6.8 million new cases of type 2 diabetes are diagnosed and 961,900 people die from diabetes and hyperglycemia. The prevalence rates of diabetes-related risks, including overweight (35.4%), obesity (7.3%) and lack of physical activity (23.8%), are also increasing. Diabetes has serious potential risks and, if not controlled, will have a significant impact on health, society and the economy. As the medical burden caused by diabetes and its complications is expected to further increase for decades to come, it is necessary and urgent to take steps to prevent and treat the disease.
In order to better tackle the huge challenge associated with diabetes together, the 2016 China Diabetes Prevention and Rehabilitation & Health Industry Development Summit, co-organized by the Beijing Association of Chinese Medicine, the China Association for Diabetes Prevention and Rehabilitation, and Capital Medical University School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, in partnership with the Global Stevia Institute, will be held in Beijing in mid-October. The summit is designed to create a new platform for academic exchanges, therapy research, cooperation across the industry and innovation in technology as well as present and utilize the latest academic and practical results about diabetes and its complications from around the world, improve China's ability to use traditional Chinese medicine as a diagnosis tool and for diabetes prevention and treatment, facilitate the integration of diabetes prevention and rehabilitation theories and clinical applications, strengthen cooperation between academia, research institutes, hospitals and companies, promote the benign interaction between doctors and patients and boost the development of China's diabetes prevention and rehabilitation industry. The summit has also invited experts from the US-based Global Stevia Institute to come to China and share the scientific theory of how stevia can prevent overweight, obesity and diabetes.
With the theme of "Combat Diabetes by Combining Chinese and Western Medicines in Prevention and Rehabilitation", the summit will focus on today's hottest topics, among them, new clinical plans, therapies and prescriptions used to prevent and treat diabetes and its complications, innovative approaches to the development of an international diabetes health industry, stevia and diabetes, as well as the implementation of the "Internet Plus" strategy (the Chinese government's program to promote the application of the internet and other information technologies in conventional industries) across the diabetes health industry. Sub-forums concerning the integration of medical and elderly care (a regimen for life preservation), health insurance, health products (with a focus on specialty foods), diabetes monitoring and medical examinations (for the collection of big data), among others, will be held concurrently. Experts in diabetes prevention and rehabilitation, researchers, medical and health professionals (physicians, pharmacists, nurses, dietitians, physical therapists, psychologists, health managers and diabetes educators, among others), technology professionals and representatives from companies and organizations involved in diabetes prevention and treatment are invited to exchange ideas at the event. In addition, the summit will promote and encourage a scientific and healthy lifestyle among diabetes patients and their families as well as individuals in a suboptimal health condition, provide guidance on dieting, exercise and psychological care during convalescence, instruct diabetes patients to seek only legitimate and standardized treatments, help to achieve blood sugar control targets, reduce the incidence of complications and lower the death and disability rates, protect and improve people's health, and effectively curb the high incidence of diabetes in China.
Officials from authorities including the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China and the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of China, leaders from the Global Stevia Institute, well-known experts and professors from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Capital Medical University, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hebei Medical University and Peking Union Medical College, as well as professionals in areas associated with diabetes and its complications including commercial insurers, internet industry executives, medical examiners, sugar-free food manufacturers and traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, among others, will be invited to attend and speak at the summit. The event will also present China's diabetes industry awards for 2016, a series of prizes that provide industry recognition across four categories: prevention, rehabilitation, technology and education, in a move to further encourage the adoption of a scientific approach in promoting diabetes prevention and rehabilitation across the society, which will reduce the medical burden on diabetes patients, the society and the country, facilitate the development of a healthy China and provide useful experience for other developing countries to effectively prevent and control chronic diseases.
For more information about the summit, please visit www.cadpr.org.cn.
Data source: The Circular Concerning Pilot Projects with Regard to Classified Diagnosis and Treatment of Hypertension and Diabetes (The National Health and Family Planning Commission [2015] 1026#); The first Global Report on Diabetes published by the World Health Organization on World Health Day (April 7).
