Hundreds of prominent medical and public health experts, managers and non-government organisations from all over the world will convene in Bangkok for a landmark international conference on February 1-2.

The gathering, one of the biggest of its kind in Asia, is part of this year's Prince Mahidol Award for medicine and public health.

His Majesty the King will preside over the award ceremony for the winners for 2006 on January 31.

The Prince Mahidol Award Conference "will be organised annually to serve as a mechanism to consult and communicate important health policy issues", said Prof Dr Vicharn Panich, chairman of the Organising Committee.

"The benefit of mankind is our ultimate aim," he said.

This year's conference, which will be held at the Imperial Queen's Park Hotel, will be opened by HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, who is also president of the Prince Mahidol Award Foundation.

The two-day PMA Conference will be under the theme "Improving Access to Essential Health Technologies: Focusing on Neglected Diseases, Reaching Neglected Populations".

Among the prominent speakers are internationally acclaimed medical scientists, public health activists and past Prince Mahidol awardees. These include Dr Margaret Chan, the new director-general of the World Health Organisation, who won the Prince Mahidol Award back in 1998.

"I am very pleased by the topic you have selected for this anniversary event," Chan said. "You are focusing on neglected diseases, but you also want to reach neglected populations. These are diseases that affect people who are hidden because they are poor and silent, because they have no political voice."

The Prince Mahidol Award Foundation, the WHO and the Thai government are jointly hosting this groundbreaking event to mark their commitment to strengthening global health policies.

"The Royal Thai Government," said Public Health Minister Dr Mongkol na Songkhla, "is committed to supporting the movement to achieve the best global health policy that benefits poor people all over the world."

He said that each year, the government would "support this global conference, co-hosted by the WHO and other global partners. The PMA Conference is an open forum for all that are concerned with global health policy."

Attendance at the conference has been confirmed by more than 250 members of global and local health organisations, including Oxfam, the Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, the WHO, universities and drug companies.

The topics under discussion are a timely reminder of the parallel forces of globalisation: trade in medicines under the World Trade Organisation, new medical technologies, neglected diseases and access to technologies by developing countries.

One of the key topics to be discussed will be the development and delivery of drugs and health technologies for critical diseases such as HIV/Aids.

"Research into HIV prevention and treatment technologies is a vital part of the long term response to Aids, and needs continued support," said Dr Peter Piot, executive director of UNAids.

"However, we must go beyond research and development and ensure that the products of innovation are accessible to those most in need. The PMA Conference, which focuses on improving access to health technologies, is particularly timely," he said.

Mahidol conference

The Nation