Regional Medical Exchanges Increase Expertise, Collaboration

U.S. military medical professionals from commands throughout the U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) area of responsibility work regularly with counterparts from other nations to share expertise in a range of areas that ultimately benefit both military forces and civilian communities.

A 13th Air Force article about a medical laboratory surveillance workshop highlights one recent engagement that brought 40 interagency medical professionals from Laos, Thailand and the U.S. together to exchange ideas and lessons learned to collectively increase their capacity to effectively manage infectious diseases.

In the past year, PACOM medical professionals have conducted multiple workshops with partner nations on such topics as pandemic/avian influenza and HIV/AIDS. In April, military medical representatives from the U.S. and 18 Asia-Pacific nations met at the 19th Annual Asia-Pacific Military Medicine Conference in Seoul.

Through medically-oriented missions such as Pacific Partnership 2009, in conjunction with military exercises such as Balikatan, or in standalone events such as the Cambodian Interoperability Program, medical professionals are providing care to those in need, while also building important professional relationships and providing invaluable training opportunities.

In the coming months, workshops in various nations will focus on blast injury management and emerging infectious diseases.

By collaborating with regional partners, PACOM medical teams and their host-nation counterparts increase regional stability by more effectively identifying and responding to pressing medical issues and enhancing the ability to respond to crises if required.

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Asia-Pacific Forces Discuss Military Medicine

Military medical representatives from the United States and 18 Asia-Pacific nations met at the 19th Annual Asia-Pacific Military Medicine Conference, which was held in Seoul, South Korea, April 6-10, to discuss collaboration.

The conference was co-hosted by U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC) and the Republic of Korea Army (ROK), and focused on “Transforming Military Medicine Through Collaboration and Interoperability.”

Members of U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) served as speakers, presenters and moderators at the conference, where medical professionals discussed ways to collaborate on solutions to problems like HIV/AIDS, infectious disease, preventive medicine, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief and Avian Bird Flu. They participate in these types of conferences frequently throughout the course of a year, ultimately hoping to further enhance the ability of different nations in the region to work together on military medical issues.

This collaboration not only makes it easier for the different organizations to work together in real-world missions, but also helps build the medical capacity of the different countries. It also allows each country to gain a better understanding of their partners and their needs and abilities. Members of the PACOM Surgeon’s Office work to ensure they understand what type of viable assistance PACOM could provide to Asia-Pacific partners if it were needed.

While conferences provide an opportunity for discussion of collaboration, additional benefits are gained by working in each other’s facilities. Different nation’s can share information and resources, which provides an opportunity to learn from each other’s medical systems, issues, and challenges.

By working together on issues such as Avian Influenza, military medical forces can find common solutions to common problems, which benefits the entire Asia-Pacific region.

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