MEDLAB 2018 at the forefront of raising standard of practice and development of better service for patients across the Middle East

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 06 February 2018 –  Day 2 of MEDLAB 2018 witnessed an interactive agenda full of activities for attendees. The focus of laboratory conferences today included Point of Care Testing (POCT), Haematology and Laboratory Informatics, while the clinical conferences saw the start of the two-day Endocrinology track.

 

Chaired by Dr. Gurdeep Dhatt, Laboratory Director, Qassimi Hospital, Sharjah, the POCT conference is the only Point of Care event in the Middle East that brings together international and regional speakers to provide a global consensus of the key challenges and best practices for all POCT users. Attendees had the opportunity to discuss regulatory aspects, validation and clinical applications in order to develop their skills and enhance the knowledge needed for the successful application of POCT in a variety of settings. 

 

Focusing on lab testing and interpretation of treatment of blood-related diseases, the CME- accredited Haematology Conference provided an opportunity to the delegates to discuss the emerging therapeutic options and recognise the factors that affect the diagnosis, staging, and prognosis of patient’s treatments.

 

Opening the conference, Dr. Rania Medhat Seliem, Consultant Hematopathologist, Head of Pathology Laboratory, Rashid Hospital, Dubai Health Authority stated: “Haematology is a very diverse discipline including coagulation, neoplastic haematology, non-neoplastic haematology and quality assurance. MEDLAB, and especially the track we are presenting this year, is spanning all these disciplines and it will raise the standard of practice and develop better services for our patients, because it focuses on practical issues we are facing every day in our labs.”

 

With clinicians becoming increasingly more dependent on direct access to pathology data, the challenge for laboratory scientists arises in ensuring the timely and effective introduction of IT systems, that can meet the needs of modern laboratory medicine. The Laboratory Informatics Conference was chaired by Dr. Ayoub Nahal, Consultant, Anatomic Pathologist, Medical Director, e-Pathology Program, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi and allowed delegates to debate better solutions for the optimal use of pathology services to encourage appropriate test requesting. On this occasion, Dr. Nahal said: “The pathology informatics is becoming more and more relevant to the medical laboratories, not only to the IT environment, but also to physicians and technicians. We want to increase the awareness of evolving technologies that unite lab equipment to benefit patient safety, specimen safety and better healthcare in general.”

 

Addressing critical topics of today's female health, the 2nd day of the Obs-Gyne congress was dedicated to gynaecological oncology. This session focused on personalised treatment of cancer, the impact of treatments on patients both physiologically and psychologically as well as patient management throughout treatment process. In addition, the track discussed gynaecological oncology from a laboratory medicine perspective, reiterating the importance of collaboration between both fields to improve the outcomes of female patients. 

 

Mr. Majd Abu Zant, CEO of HealthPlus Fertility Centre, Abu Dhabi concluded: “MEDLAB is an excellent platform for key leaders and specialists in the industry of obstetrics, gynaecology and infertility (IVF) treatments. Participants came from across the region to exhibit or attend the conference, presenting us with numerous networking opportunities” 

 

The Heads of Lab Masterclass was held for the first time at MEDLAB. An exclusive discussion gathering key opinion leaders in clinical laboratory management, the masterclass focused on providing practical solutions to challenges in public and private medical laboratories in the region. On the side-lines of the event, Dr. Carlo Kaabar, American Hospital Dubai said: “This masterclass seeks input from professionals with expertise in managing laboratories – laboratory directors, pathologists etc. With the impact of technology in the industry and the changing landscape in the region, it is important that we adapt to find new tools to do ‘more with less’ without compromising quality and patient safety”

 

The second day of MEDLAB saw the exhibition focus on innovations in laboratory solutions and exploration of new business opportunities in the global healthcare field.

 

MEDLAB also provides a unique opportunity for global companies, such as Siemens Healthineers, to demonstrate state of the art technologies and advancements in the laboratory diagnostics fields – among their leading innovations showcased this year is the Atellica® Solution, Atellica ® Diagnostics IT, Atellica ® 1500 Automated Urinalysis System and Atellica® MDX 160. This year’s Titanium Sponsor, aims to lead the healthcare transformation delivery, while continuously keeping in mind the pressures of the industry in achieving better outcomes at lower costs for their customers.

 

Sysmex, a global leader in laboratory diagnostics will hold a series of workshops on Thursday, February 8th, presenting the latest developments in haematology analysers, flowcytometry, better cancer management and urinalysis.