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Maj. Gen. (Dr.) Suebpong Sangkharomya, Director General, Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Bangkok, commented on the success of the RTA in the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic. He outlined the strategic, operational, and tactical issues essential for fighting HIV/AIDS in Thailand.
The humane nature of medicine earns privileged access for a defense force’s medical personnel. The mutual trust and respect that follow allow the military to go where the disease is and partner with countries and industry to find medical solutions. “The relationships that develop here are key to the establishment and advancement of our ability to work together throughout the world when opportunities emerge. It is the only time and forum that we have in the Asia Pacific region to talk about realistic solutions,” said Col. (Dr.) Benjamin W. Berg, TAMC Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program and Co-Chairman of the APMMC Scientific Committee.
Cmdr. (Dr.) Randall Hyer, U.S. Navy, Project Leader, Civil-Military Liaison Activity, World Health Organization (WHO), Switzerland, can attest to the value of the APMMC. WHO’s plan to contain the SARS epidemic involved evacuating SARS patients. Told that there was no commercial way to airlift a SARS victim, Cmdr. Hyer called upon a military doctor he met at last year’s 12th APMMC, Col. (Dr.) Michael Lischak, U.S. Pacific Air Force Senior Flight Surgeon, who responded immediately. “The U. S. Air Force was the first agency to knowingly transport a suspected SARS patient,” said Col. Lischak.
Maj. (Dr.) Bernadette Buhayo, Flight Surgeon, Aviation Physiology Instructor, Philippine Air Force, said of her first exposure to the APMMC, “It makes you love the service more. It inspires you to work for improvements. It makes you feel that you have a vital role to play.” Maj. Buhayo co-presented with five others a briefing on “Urgent Patients During Balikatan 02-01, Zamboanga, Philippines.”
In his presentation entitled, “A Regional Health Interoperability Forum,” Col. (Dr.) Anthony Gill, Australian Army, introduced the idea of establishing an organization outside the APMMC where member countries could exchange information on health capabilities that promote efficient coalition operations. Participants will likely hear more about this concept at next year’s conference scheduled for May 2004, in Brisbane, Australia. Co-hosted by the Australian Army, the theme will be “Professional Mastery in Military Medicine.”
Commenting on the importance of this year’s theme, “Good Health-Great Soldiers,” Maj. Gen. Whelden, said in his closing remarks to the 13th APMMC, “Military history is replete with examples of how the greatest killer on the battlefield has often not been enemy bullets and bombs, but rather the ravages of illness and disease.”
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Lt. Gen. Choochat Kambhu Na Ayudhya, RTA Surgeon General, attaches the 13th streamer to the APMMC flag held by Australian Lt. Col. Leonard Brennan during the closing ceremony. The 2004 conference co-hosts, Air Commodore Tony Austin, Director General of Australia’s Defense Health Service, and Maj. Gen. Joseph G. Webb, Jr., U.S. Army Pacific Command Surgeon, look on.
Photo by Paul A. Frank |
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