Are international medical conferences an outdated luxury the planet can't afford? Yes

doi:10.1136/bmj.a358

BMJ 2008;336:1466 (28 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.a358

Head to Head

Are international medical conferences an outdated luxury the planet can’t afford? Yes

Malcolm Green, professor emeritus respiratory medicine, Imperial College

¹ London SW8 2EF

malcolm@malcolmgreen.net

Every year thousands of doctors and scientists fly to meetingsat distant locations. Malcolm Green argues that this is no longerjustifiable or necessary, but James Drife (doi: 10.1136/bmj.a351)believesface to face contact is hard to replace

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Climate change is accelerating, and our propensity for releasingcarbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphereis contributing massively. We owe it to our children and grandchildrento minimise our contribution to the acceleration, putting offthe day when the environment becomes terminally unstable forhuman existence.¹

For each of us to reduce our carbon footprint from 8 tonnesa year in the United Kingdom to the 2 tonnes that is our sustainableshare is a task that is hard to conceive. But a journey of athousand miles starts with but a single step, and doctors andscientists should be asking themselves how they can act.

Low energy light bulbs, improving the insulation of our homes,and driving less will contribute. But if we stop going to internationalconferences we can make a significant difference and be seento be giving a lead. By finding new ways . . . [Full text of this article]

Add to CiteULike CiteULike Add to Complore Complore Add to Connotea Connotea Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us Add to Digg Digg Add to Reddit Reddit Add to Technorati Technorati What's this?

Relevant Articles

Virtual congress of general practice is thriving: N P Viswanathan
BMJ 2008 337: a681. [Extract] [Full Text]

Surgeons have held conferences in Second Life: Julian J Leong, James Kinross, David Taylor, and Sanjay Purkayastha
BMJ 2008 337: a683. [Extract] [Full Text]

Climate change: our new responsibility: Fiona Godlee
BMJ 2008 336: 0. [Extract] [Full Text]

Are international medical conferences an outdated luxury the planet can’t afford? No: James Owen Drife
BMJ 2008 336: 1467. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Reducing the carbon footprint of medical conferences: Ian Roberts and Fiona Godlee
BMJ 2007 334: 324-325. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Another inconvenient truth?: Julian Crane and Brent Caldwell
BMJ 2006 333: 1256. [Extract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

Viswanathan, N P (2008). Virtual congress of general practice is thriving. BMJ 337: a681-a681 [Full text]
Leong, J. J, Kinross, J., Taylor, D., Purkayastha, S. (2008). Surgeons have held conferences in Second Life. BMJ 337: a683-a683 [Full text]

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Virtual Congress of family medicine and general practice: Dr.N.P. VISWANATHAN
bmj.com, 27 Jun 2008 [Full text]
Confessions of an Oncotourist: Michael Baum
bmj.com, 28 Jun 2008 [Full text]
Yes and No - a compromise: David JR Hutchon
bmj.com, 28 Jun 2008 [Full text]
'Heartened by your article': Suzanne Adams
bmj.com, 28 Jun 2008 [Full text]
Just a question of time: Andrew Renaut
bmj.com, 29 Jun 2008 [Full text]
Is there a relationship between climate change and CO2 emissions? What is the evidence ?: Fiona Nicol
bmj.com, 29 Jun 2008 [Full text]
luxury conferences and transparency: Clint L. Jean Louis
bmj.com, 29 Jun 2008 [Full text]
A Second Life for the Planet? Virtual Conferences - here to stay: Julian J Leong, et al.
bmj.com, 29 Jun 2008 [Full text]
Follow the FOGSI way: Dr Jayaraman Nambiar
bmj.com, 29 Jun 2008 [Full text]
Flying: a moral or statistical matter?: Antony Dowd
bmj.com, 30 Jun 2008 [Full text]
International Conferences or International Friendships?: Sahoo Saddichha
bmj.com, 30 Jun 2008 [Full text]
Re: Virtual Congress of family medicine and general practice: N.P. Viswanathan
bmj.com, 3 Jul 2008 [Full text]
Video conference , teleconference are complimentary to traditional international medical conference: Sukumar Barik
bmj.com, 4 Jul 2008 [Full text]
International conferences: An ethical view point: Abid Jameel, et al.
bmj.com, 9 Jul 2008 [Full text]
true problems: Dr Gloria Rieppi
bmj.com, 18 Jul 2008 [Full text]
Reduced patient access to specialist care may be associated with attendance at medical conferences: Joseph Ting
bmj.com, 18 Jul 2008 [Full text]
The wider benefits of a green outlook: Patrick Harnett
bmj.com, 19 Jul 2008 [Full text]
I agree: Nape Mampane
bmj.com, 10 Sep 2008 [Full text]