Nobel Prize Winner Professor Muhammad Yunus Leading Delegation From Bangladesh to World Health Care Congress to Advance Affordable Health Care Innovations

Health Care innovations and opportunities attract attendees from more than 35 countries and delegations from over 12 to the 6th Annual World Health Care Congress April 14-16, 2009, Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON, April 7 /PRNewswire/ — Professor Muhammad Yunus of the Grameen Bank and a delegation of 12 leaders from Bangladesh will be joining delegations from more than a dozen other countries at the 6th Annual World Health Care Congress, April 14-16, Washington, D.C. Professor Yunus, a 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate will be speaking at the conference regarding the Grameen Healthcare initiative, a program to develop a world-class, sustainable health care network to serve the people of Bangladesh.

“A vital component of our health programs is the accompanying micro-health insurance program to encourage positive health seeking practices. This serves a dual purpose of enhancing utilization of health services and improving cost-recovery to achieve sustainability,” states Professor Yunus. “While initial evaluations of the Grameen Clinic network and its health impact are positive, continuous improvements in coverage, disease prevention, quality of care and sustainability remain as top priorities.”

The Bangladeshi delegation will be joined by others who will represent the spectrum of foreign health care leaders, from health ministries to hospitals, medical research facilities, pharmaceuticals and media outlets. This year’s congress will feature delegations from: China, India, Israel, Romania, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Sweden, South Africa, Poland, Germany, France, Czech Republic, Denmark, Canada, and Nigeria. Representatives from more than 35 other countries are also registered.

Countries such as China also will be represented with pavilions that highlight companies that are shaping the future of health care delivery in their home countries.

“The World Health Care Congress is a truly international event, and our international participation continues to grow,” said Nicole Garratt, World Health Care Congress president and director. “We strongly encourage everyone to join the global discussion concerning health care. It’s exciting to see one conference connect all points on the globe through health care thought leadership and new business opportunities.”

As one of its features, the 6th Annual World Health Care Congress will offer a roster of foreign speakers for a two-day International Health Summit, with topics including:

• Game changing innovations in developing countries that improve the cost and quality of care
• Global health’s major killers and new medical research efforts
• Advancing the Electronic Medical Record – UK’s lessons learned to improve physician compliance and quality
• International partnerships for health care delivery innovation
• Lessons learned from global hospital and health system shared experiences and best practices
• Responses to world public health challenges

About Grameen Healthcare

Grameen Healthcare aims to establish a sustainable health system in Bangladesh that will serve the health needs of all Bangladeshis income levels with low cost and high quality health care. Grameen Healthcare will design low-cost, affordable health services for all of Bangladesh, especially the lowest income women and children, and sustain these services thru social business. In addition to existing social business partnerships with Danone and Veolia, Grameen Healthcare has recently announced partnerships with Pfizer, GE Healthcare, and the Mayo Clinic. Grameen Healthcare continues to gather more new and innovative partners committed to harness best practices to build sustainable business models that can meet the unmet health needs of the poor in Bangladesh.

About Grameen Bank

Grameen Bank (GB) has reversed conventional banking practice by removing the need for collateral and created a banking system based on mutual trust, accountability, participation and creativity. GB provides credit to the poorest of the poor in rural Bangladesh, without any collateral. At GB, credit is a cost effective weapon to fight poverty and it serves as a catalyst in the over all development of socio-economic conditions of the poor who have been kept outside the banking orbit on the grounds that they are poor and hence not bankable. As of January, 2009, it has 7.71 million borrowers, 97 percent of whom are women. With 2,541 branches, GB provides services in 83,744 villages, covering almost 100 percent of the total villages in Bangladesh. Grameen Bank was jointly awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize with its founder Dr. Muhammad Yunus. See http://www.grameen.com/ for additional information.

About the World Health Care Congress

The 6th Annual World Health Care Congress is the most prestigious meeting of chief and senior executives from all sectors of health care. The 2009 conference will convene over 1,700 CEOs, senior executives and government officials from the nation’s largest employers, hospitals, health systems, health plans, pharmaceutical and biotech companies, and leading government agency policy makers. For more information visit www.worldhealthcarecongress.com

    CONTACT: Shadab Mahmud
    Program Manager, Grameen Healthcare Support Group
    617-953-1665
    Shadab.Mahmud@gmail.com

    CONTACT: Patrick Golden
    Director of Communications, World Congress
    781.939.2511
    Patrick.golden@worldcongress.com

SOURCE World Health Care Congress