More than 300 delegates from 25 Asia-Pacific nations participated in the conference. Some of the delegates are (L to R in the front row only): Dr. Patrick Hou’asia (Solomon Islands), Col. Yue Wong (Singapore), Dr. Titi Lamese (Samoa), Brig. Gen. Ra Hyun Jae (Republic of Korea), Maj. Ivan Kholikov (Russia), and Col. Veran Efren (Philippines).

Health is truly a bridge of peace, an antidote to intolerance and a source of shared security

The Hon. Dató Sri Mohd Najib bin
Tun Haji Abdul Razak
Minister of Defence, Malaysia

At the conference, the Surgeon General of the U.S. Army, Lt. Gen. James Peake, presents the U.S. Army Medical Department Order of Military Merit to the Surgeon General of the Royal Thai Army, Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Kambhu Na Choochat.

During his remarks at the Opening Ceremony of the 12th Asia-Pacific Military Medicine Conference (APMMC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 22 April 2002, the Honorable Dató Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak, Minister of Defence of Malaysia, said "Globalization has forced us to change our attitude of ‘business as usual’ and explore new ways to collaborate." Striking a gong three times, he officially opened the conference that would explore new ways to collaborate in military medicine.

More than 300 delegates attended from Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Russia, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, United States, Vanuatu and Vietnam.

The conference main focus was "Military Medical Interoperability." Presentations ranged from a telemedicine project between Thailand and the United States dubbed "Project THAI-HI," which allows the exchange of clinical information over high-end videoconferencing equipment, with Thai and Hawaii-based U.S. staffs acting as the host expert in alternating sessions.

Other abstracts presented at the conference included:

• -"Is the Military Pregnancy a High Risk Category" presented by Lt. Col. (Dr.) Hanifullah Khan, 96th Armed Forces Hospital, Lumut Perak, Malaysia. Lt. Col. Khan concluded that "military pregnancy is not a high-risk category" in Malaysia.