Home 

Background 

Objectives 

Topics 

Call for Abstracts 

Registration 

Important Dates 

Conference Organization 

Tentative Program 

Traveler's Info 

Contact Us 

 


7th ASIA-PACIFIC SOCIAL SCIENCE AND
MEDICINE CONFERENCE (APSSAM)
BACKGROUND

In January 1992, the International Forum for Social Sciences in Health (IFSSH) was formed with the aim of coordinating activities, facilitating regional initiatives and sharing experiences with regard to the application of the health social sciences towards improving people's health. The IFSSH has formed regional networks in Africa, Middle East, Eastern Europe, Latin America-Caribbean, North America as well as Asian and Pacific Region.

The Asia-Pacific Network (APNET) of IFSSH was launched in May 1994 during the 2nd Asia-Pacific Social Sciences and Medicine (APSSAM) Conference in Manila. The mission of APNET is to encourage mutual efforts to develop, promote and apply health social science perspectives in research and interventions to improve the health of people in Asia-Pacific. It is now widely acknowledged that health, disease and illness are the consequences of a complex web of social, cultural, economic, political, organizational, and many other situations in society. Therefore, health problems have to be understood and intervened by applying social science perspectives through interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches.

One of the main activities of APNET is the coordination of a regional conference, the Asia-Pacific Social Science and Medicine Conference (APSSAM), which aims to bring together scientists, practitioners and policy makers from across all disciplines with the common concern for the social and cultural dimensions of illness, health and health care within the Asia-Pacific region. Previous meetings were held in India (1992), Manila (1994), Perth, Australia (1996), Yogyakarta, Indonesia (1998), Kandy, Sri Lanka (2000) and Kunming, China (2002).

The 7th APSSAM will be hosted by the University of the Philippines Manila (UP Manila), the health sciences center of the University, as part of its centennial activities in 2008.