The College of Medicine, UK and Soukya Foundation, India today announced a three-day International Conference “Global Health Futures creating integrated solutions to the epidemic of long-term solutions”. The conference will be held from November 13 – 15 at the Marriott Whitefield, Bengaluru.

The College of Medicine is an independent UK Charity started in 2010 and dedicated to supporting patients and clinicians to create health for individuals and local communities. Sir Graeme Catto, president and Dr Michael Dixon, Chair College of Medicine, UK will be present at the conference.

Soukya Foundation was started by Dr Isaac Mathai, founder and medical director, Soukya Holistic Health Centre, Bengaluru, with an objective to make Integrative Medicine accessible to the common man. The Foundation runs charitable and free clinics in various parts of the city and also maintains free or subsidized clinics in nearby villages.

‘Global Health Futures’ will lay emphasis on healthcare systems of the world adopting an integrated approach to medicine and health, working towards the treatment and prevention of long-term disease. It will help clinicians and health systems in different countries learn from each other and will include representatives from WHO and the Ministry of Health, Government of India.

Eminent speakers on the panel include Prince Charles; Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Dr Dean Ornish, Sir John Oldham, Sir Jonathon Porritt, Dr Kerryn Phelps, Prof. Dr Ranjit Roy Chaudhury, and many other world experts.

Now, more than ever, with ageing populations and increasing costs of treatment, exploring cost-effective and sustainable approaches to delivering health care is crucial. It is therefore essential that a united alliance of governmental and non-governmental agencies, clinicians and all stakeholders lay the groundwork that will enable a coherent and sustainable management plan to deal with this problem. India, with its history of successful and affordable complementary systems of healing provides the ideal setting for this vitally important conference on Integrative Medicine.

At the closing ceremony of the conference, on November 15, 2013, Karnataka Chief Minister K Siddaramaiah will inaugurate ‘Dr Mathai’s Rural Holistic Health Centre’. The Centre, established at the Government Primary Health Centre of Jadigenahalli Grama Panchayat, Hoskote Taluk provides integrated medical healthcare to seven villages through a host of programmes including School and Anganwadi health check ups, Preventive Medicine, Community Medicine, Yoga and much more. Supported by the Government of Karnataka and Department of Ayush’s Grama Programme it is being looked as a national model for replication by the WHO, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India and Government of Karnataka.

The conference also features two new book releases by Dr Mathai. The first one - ‘Dr Mathai’s Holistic Health Guide for Women’ described as a ‘must have book for every woman’ will be released by the Governor of Karnataka HR Bhardwaj during the conference inaugural on November 13 and the second ‘Holistic Healing’ discusses the philosophy of Holistic Health practices and gives a glimpse into his life and times and will be released by Archbishop Desmond Tutu at the closing ceremony on November 15.

A proposed long-term outcome of this international conference is to help establish the ‘International Institute of Integrative Medical Sciences’. The Institute is to be established by Soukya Foundation with support from the Governments of India and Karnataka and others.