By Gigian Chin
The World Conference on Exercise Medicine (WCEM) has concluded on the 11th this month. Next year, the 5th edition of the conference will be held in Hungary in East Europe. We believe that once the pandemic is over, the conference will receive global attention.
Founder of the conference, Dato’ Sri Jessy Lai handed over the conference flag to Hungary Ambassador to Malaysia, (Dr. Petra), during a simple but grand ceremony.
The 4th WCEM was co-organised with the Malaysian Health Ministry. Originally scheduled on 22 June in Malaysia, it was postponed to 20 October – 11 November, and conducted online.
Moving the conference online did not affect its authority and importance. It saw participants from 33 countries, 42 invited expert speakers who spoke on 42 topics, and more than tens of thousands in visitor count.
The eight main themes of the conference include: exercise and heart, exercise and cancer, exercise and immunity, exercise and mental health, exercise and metabolism, exercise and socialising, exercise injuries and exercise and age—all topics highly relevant to modern health concerns.
Dato’ Sri Jessy Lai shared her gratitude for being able to hold this International mega conference successfully, despite the pandemic.
“The pandemic has taught us the importance of international cooperation. Various countries have been making huge progress in vaccine development, and we have hopes that these can be made available to the public next year.”
She also shared that each country has been selflessly sharing their research with others, all for the common benefit of humanity.
Lai has always been a vocal supporter of exercise medicine. Through various activities, she hopes to raise awareness about the prevention of chronic diseases. To date, Lai and her team has hosted 4 editions of WCEM. Each edition saw the participation of experts from more than 30 countries. It has also assisted the World Health Organisation (WHO) in achieving the Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs 2013-2020.
