Gulf Intervention Society 2022 Conference Concludes with more than 1350 participants

• Global and International participants for the first time since it started: The Gulf Intervention Society attracted wide contributions from both Medical and Cardiac Experts worldwide
• The Fifth Edition of GIS 2022 attracted 900 participants and more than 450 virtual entries

Dubai, UAE, November 2022

The conclusion of the fifth edition of The Gulf Intervention Society (GIS) Conference brought record-breaking participation both in person, and virtually across the MENA region where the number of virtual participants reached nearly 450. At the same time, more than 900 specialists in this year’s event, held from November 03-05 at Intercontinental Festival City, Dubai.

Fawaz Almutairi, Consultant Interventional Cardiologist National Guard Hospital, Riyadh, and President of the GIS said: “In this year’s edition, we have witnessed the inclusion of several regional and international medical bodies across the world, which assures the importance of the role we played as “GIS” in spreading the health-related knowledge and exchanging the experience among specialized authorities in the field cardiology and heart health. During this event, experts discussed the most prominent findings of science and technology in their respective fields, and they have also shared vast experiences during the live streaming from several hospitals worldwide, and also one of the main initiatives of the society is to support young cardiologists to attend and participate at the conference”   

The event also included Four live-streamed cases from Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, USA, Alqassimi Hospital on the first day and from King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Mubarak Hospital in Kuwait on the second day of the 5^th GIS edition.

GIS this year hosted Dual Knowledge sessions with Seven different societies regionally and internationally namely, the Asian Pacific Society of Cardiology – Cardiological Society of India – Indonesian Heart Association – Japanese Circulation Society – Pan African Society of Cardiology and the Cardiovascular Research, Education & Prevention Foundation-CVREP.

Abdullah Shehab, Professor of Cardiology, UAE and Vice-President of the GIS said: “Through this conference, we bring together doctors and specialists in the field of Cardiology from all over the world, and we have recorded a great success in the field of health education and exchange of experiences and wellness discussion of the latest research and treatments. However, this reaffirms our role and aim at the GIS to share knowledge and experience as well as to become the main source of the cardiological treatment and cardiovascular diseases as well.”

The Conference presented 32 workshops and seminars in which more than 115 participants contributed, including 30 speakers from different countries. The GIS conference has also been accredited by the European Accreditation (EBAC) as well as the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) for the equivalent of 15 hours of continuing medical education for external accreditations.

Mousa Akbar, Consultant Interventional Cardiologist and Head of the Cardiology Unit Al Sabah Hospital, Kuwait and General Secretary, said “heart disease is still one of the main causes of death worldwide, especially, with the spread contagious diseases such as coronavirus. Hence, the important and urgent need arises to share the knowledge and the latest findings of research within our field. However, we at GIS are pleased to share our knowledge and information about the cardiac medical sector through one specialized platform that includes all studies and research in one place from around the world.”

Khalid Bin Thani, Cardiovascular Medicine and Interventional Cardiology specialist at Salmaniya Medical Complex, Bahrain, and Treasurer, said: “We thank Dubai Tourism Authority for providing us with this opportunity to hold this annual event in support of the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and which also helped to build a bridge between regional and global entities and organizations to share knowledge in the field of Cardiology.”

In line with the vision of the Gulf Intervention Society and its adaptation of being environmentally friendly, the GIS Conference ensured that any unused materials after the event were donated or recycled, and all printed materials were created using recyclable papers. The Carbon footprint was also taken into consideration with regard to transportation to and from the location, with the venue committed to utilising only sustainable products across the property, wherein no plastics but only biodegradable packaging were used.

We look forward to welcoming everyone once again to the next edition from 2–4 November 2023– at Intercontinental Festival City, Dubai-UAE, managed by ICOM as Core PCO. Since the inception of the conference in 2018, the GIS Conference has witnessed an increase in attendance and participation at the regional and international levels by 60-70%.