Conference held to boost rehabilitation research and health industries

The third Comprehensive Academic Annual Conference of the Chinese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine (CAAC-CARM) and the 2019 International Exhibition on Rehabilitation Technologies and Equipment wereheld in Beijing from Nov 22 to 24.

Under the theme of innovation, integrated development and building a community of rehabilitation, the conference, focusing on the cutting-edge achievements of rehabilitation science and technologies and the growth of rehabilitation industries, gathered around 10,000 participants including representatives of international academic organizations, specialists and professionals in rehabilitation medicine as well as over 100 rehabilitation deviceexhibitors.

CARM President Fang Guo'en addressed the ceremony, stressing that rehabilitation medicine plays a key role in protecting people's health and the conference aims to promote transformation of rehabilitation methods and technologies, integration of rehabilitation medicine and traditional Chinese and Western medicine as well as the burgeoning health industries.

At present, people aged over 60 account for more than 18 percent of China's total population, and meeting their rigid demands for rehabilitation services has become an important task incoping with the aging population, according to Meng Li, an official with the National Health Commission.

Health authorities will roll out documents for guidance to improve rehabilitation services and pay more attention to cultivation and training of rehabilitation talents and professionals, said Meng.

The conference also drew leading experts in rehabilitation, including a Nobel Prize laureate and academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciencesand the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Professionals from home and abroad shared the latest academic ideas and researchachievements in rehabilitation at the main forum and over 50 subforums.

To encourage commitment to research and practice in rehabilitation, the conference also hailed model professionals and teams. Seven specialists were granted the top prizes in science and technology of CARM and 13 veteran specialists received lifetimeachievement awards at the opening ceremony.