The APMMC conference flag is presented at the tenth gathering, co-hosted by Singapore and the U.S.

The APMMC is a forum for military medical professionals in the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean region to discuss scientific and military medical issues and cooperation. The conference provides an opportunity for attendees to learn from each other, and to work together to provide the best health care possible to the military personnel and civilians they serve.

The event is co-hosted each year by the U.S. and another Asia-Pacific country. Previous APMMCs have taken place in Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, New Delhi, Sydney, Auckland, and Honolulu.

Singapore co-hosted the tenth APMMC conference. Brig.-Gen. Lionel Lee, Chief of Medical Corps of the Singapore Armed Forces, and Maj. Gen. Nancy R. Adams, Command Surgeon, U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC) and Commander of Tripler Army Medical Center, Hawaii, shared co-host responsibilities.

Countries that participated included Australia, Bangladesh, China, Fiji, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Russia, Samoa, Sri Lanka, Tonga, Thailand, Vanuatu, Vietnam, plus the two co-host countries.

Close to 300 scientific papers and briefings were presented at APMMC. They focused on the theme, "Hostile Environments: Challenges to Military Medicine."

Lt. Gen. R. Jayaswal, the senior delegate from India, said the conference was correctly oriented on the topic of the day. "This conference is focused on humanitarian assistance and disaster management, which every country needs to explore," Lt. Gen. Jayaswal said. "The topics of the conference are very varied and cover every interest."

The wide range of topics discussed during the conference included the Military Aspects of Humanitarian Deployments, Environmental Medicine, Infectious Disease, Psychiatry, Combat Medicine, Medical Strategies for Low-Intensity Conflict, and Technological Advances in Telemedicine.

"The conference provides a joint/combined medical forum for cooperative engagement on vital health-related issues," observed Lt. Col. (Dr.) Benjamin Berg, a member of the USARPAC Scientific Program Committee. "This year’s theme encompassed the broad spectrum of environmental, military, fiscal, and geographic factors that distinguish military medicine as a unique specialty," Lt. Col. Berg said.