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A successful meetings history has won Melbourne the right to host the 2004 International Conference on the Reduction of Drug Related Harm, a pioneering forum for drug policy development.
Organised by the International Harm Reduction Association, the conference aims to reduce the medical, social and economic harm of legal and illegal drug use.
Melbourne beat competing cities Moscow, Vancouver and Buenos Aires, with the board of the International Harm Reduction Association eagerly accepting Melbourne's bid at this year's conference in Slovenia.
Australia has previously held the conference twice, in Melbourne in 1992 and Hobart in 1996. According to Bill Stronach, Chief Executive of the Australian Drug Foundation, Melbourne was an unbeatable choice for 2004.
"One of the compelling reasons this bid was successful was that Melbourne was extremely popular when the conference was held here in 1992. The two conferences that have been held in Australia are regarded by the association as the best in its 14-year history," said Mr
Stronach.
Crucial to the win was the Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau (MCVB), whose assistance, Mr Stronach believes, resulted in a bid that was by far the best of its competitors.
"Having the MCVB behind us definitely carried weight, as did the support of our bid partners, the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, and the Centre for Harm Reduction at the Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health," Mr Stronach said.
Mr Stronach also said that the conference was important to Melbourne and to Australia, with more and more countries around the world accepting the harm reduction approach to drug use. "Australia has led the world in developing the approaches to drug issues that this conference deals with," Mr Stronach said.
MCVB's chief executive, Gary Grimmer, agrees. "By hosting this conference, Melbourne and Melburnians will play a role in developing responses to a complex social issue. The knowledge gained will inform our health professionals, educators, social workers and politicians.
"The MCVB is committed to the economic development of Melbourne through attracting business events, but it is also part of our mission to bring events to Melbourne that enrich our city," said Mr Grimmer.
A multidisciplinary audience of around 700 will attend the conference in 2004, with the event held hot on the heels of the recently-won 2004 XVIIIth World Conference on Health Promotion and Health Education. Mr Stronach believes Melbourne's success in attracting large business events has a snowball effect: "The fact that this conference will be held four days before the World Conference on Health Promotion and Education was a powerful reason for winning the bid, with health professionals from around the world attracted to both events," Mr
Stronach said.
The 2004 International Conference on the Reduction of Drug Related Harm adds to the growing list of conferences slated for Melbourne over the next six years, with bid wins worth a collective $35 million in extra business for Victoria between 2003 and 2008 announced recently. |
