When he first entered the spacious great room, a colleague exclaimed: “What an amazing place! I’ve always wanted to come to Bellagio! How did you do it?” I imagine most of our conference participants had similar thoughts. The Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Conference Centre, situated on the grounds of an ancient villa that belonged to the aristocratic Sfondrati and Serbelloni families, stretches from the shore of Lago di Como, deepest of Italy’s Lombardy lakes, to the summit of a steep hill. Bellagio’s reputation rests not so much on its idyllic surroundings as on the brilliance with which these surroundings have been re- designed. Airy, comfortable conference rooms and widely spaced, personalized accommodations facilitate the lengthy, intense discussions, occasional relaxing walks with endless surprising views and excellent Italian cuisine that provide just the right setting for a scientific conference on a single controversial topic. more…

The adrenaline rush was unbearable. I could feel my palms sweating. When I tried to clip the microphone on to my coat, my hands were trembling. Eager looking eyes of the audience were pinned on me. I took a deep breath and with my heart still pounding, I said, “Hello everyone!”
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Anticoagulation in patients with microbleeds and TPA for stroke beyond 3 hours

The 3rd World Congress on Controversies in Neurology, held in Prague October 8-11, used an all-debate format to highlight areas of uncertainty and disagreement in current neurological practice. With three concurrent sessions to choose from, I wasn’t able to attend everything of interest, but here are some highlights from two of the sessions: more…

The 45th annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) took place in Vienna, Austria, from September 30th to October 2nd  The town centre and all places of interest were flooded with the bright red congress-rucksacks. more…

As UK participants returned from last week’s European Health Forum in Gastein (read more), Austria, newspaper headlines calling for “Cuts in wasteful NHS bureaucracy” and “Pay freezes for high earners” will have reinforced the messages they heard. Debate focused on the impact of the financial crisis on health and what governments should do about it. While saving money by reducing waste in Europe’s” inefficient health systems” was one message, the central one was that health is largely determined by factors outside the health system, and that the rallying cry’s should be “social justice” and “jobs for health.” more…

If every media report of a cure for cancer were true, we should live forever. But, the media like a headline health story, and we cannot really blame the journalists. It is largely the fault of epidemiologists, according to Joe McLaughlin (International Epidemiology Institute, Maryland USA), who laments the change in culture. He feels that epidemiology has lost its way; experts talk up their findings, shamelessly court the media and, have lost the objectivity of their science. This was how he set the scene at a meeting of epidemiologists and editors at the Royal College of Physicians on Sept 24 and 25, convened by Gerard Swaen, of the Dow Chemical Company, under the aegis of ECETOC (European Centre for Ecotoxicology and Toxicology of Chemicals, Brussels) to discuss the potential for a register of observational epidemiology studies. more…

Often the only visible links between a conference and the host city are the presence of intense young researchers with carefully rolled posters and middle aged delegates with matching bags, wandering aimlessly through the streets. But, by inspired by Zeno Bisoffi, conference chairman, the 6th European Congress on Tropical Medicine and International Health engaged directly with the people of Verona with a public viewing of a film entitled “Come un homo sulla terra,” giving voice to Ethiopian refugees living in Rome and an open debate the following evening with authors, journalists and medical leaders. more…

Democracy means involvement in decision making but it may not always lead to the best outcomes. With this simple analogy, Gerd Gigerenzer (Berlin), captured the potential hazards of clinical shared decision making in his keynote address to the 5th International Shared Decision Making Conference in Boston (June 14-17). more…

An extra 2000 GPs were promised when the Minister of Health in Norway heard Barbara Starfield speak on a previous visit to Scandinavia. Roar Maagaard, in quoting this figure in his introduction, was sorry that the Danish Minister for Health and Prevention, who opened the conference, left before her keynote address at the 16th Nordic Congress of General Practice. She is a key advocate for primary care. more…

Two years ago health ministers in the Czech Republic decided to focus on the financial sustainability of health systems during their six months at the EU presidency helm. Was this foresight? Did the ministers know what the bankers did not- that economic Armageddon was round the corner? Either way, the financial crisis was certainly concentrating minds at their recent conference on how countries can continue to meet their rising healthcare costs. more…