In light of the unprecedented and global consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic impacting physical attendance at meetings, hosting the 10th International Conference on Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice -All Together Better Health (ATBH-X) which was set to take place in Doha, Qatar in 2021 has been rescheduled to 2023 as (ATBH-XI).
The decision has been taken after careful consideration by the Qatar ATBH steering committee in discussion with the Global Confederation for Interprofessional Education & Collaborative Practice (Interprofessional. Global). All Together Better Health is the leading global interprofessional education and collaborative practice conference under the direction of (Interprofessional.Global) was first held in London in 1997, ATBH conferences have met previously in Vancouver, London, Stockholm, Sydney, Kobe, Pittsburgh, Oxford and Auckland.
Dr. Egon Toft, Vice-president for Medicine and Health at Qatar University (QU), said “We understand that choosing to postpone the conference is a difficult decision, especially when we have spent time and effort into the planning and organizing the event from 2018 till now. However, the safety of our attendees and guests, is our first priority. We hope by doing this we contribute to the fight against this pandemic.”
Dr. Alla El-Awaisi, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs at College of Pharmacy QU and Chairperson of the conference said “This difficult decision prioritizes the health and wellbeing of meeting participants and considered travel and global restrictions on face-to-face events. We would like to thank everyone who has submitted an abstract and those who have been involved in our preparations since 2018. We at Qatar University are sincerely sorry we had to make this challenging decision and very much look forward to hosting ATBH-XI in Qatar in 2023. We will do our best to make it worth the wait, intent on providing a unique and memorable experience for our global community of colleagues.”
Dr. Johanna Dahlberg, Chair of Interprofessional.Global said: “The regional networks of Interprofessional.Global acknowledge the commitment, all the hard work and preparations, and the renewed agreement between the host (Qatar University) and Interprofessional.Global for the All Together Better Conference XI in 2023.”
“To maintain global exchange and mutual learning in the IPECP community, Interprofessional.Global will be hosting ATBH-X as a virtual series of Global Cafés in the fall of 2021 with the regional IPECP networks as hosts. Further information can be found at the Interprofessional.Global website.”