IPCRG World Conference 2010

The IPCRG 5th Biennial Conference in Toronto 2-5 June was a great success. Over 500 delegates attended from 42 countries; over 160 abstracts were submitted; 127 presented; and the best 93 published in the Primary Care Respiratory Journal online.

Our opening ceremony of the 5th Biennial Conference in Toronto 2-5 June 2010 was attended by a significant number of guests from the WHO-GARD General Meeting, which had a focus on the role of primary care in delivering the GARD vision of a world where all people breathe freely.

The quality of the scientific content was high; there were encouraging contributions from novice researchers in low and middle income countries; and a great enthusiasm to work collaboratively with European colleagues to improve standards of prevention (reducing tobacco dependence and air pollution), diagnosis and care in respiratory diseases commonly found in the community.

Presentations from Vietnam, South Africa and Pakistan showed the range of problems facing colleagues outside Europe such as the combination of tuberculosis, non-communicable disease and significant occupational health problems from mining, agriculture and occupations such such as rice husking, cotton ginning and wheat threshing.