Medical Congresses, International

The first medical congresses on sanitation (Paris, 1851) and on hygiene and demography (Brussels, 1852) were convened because of the need to share international information about the spread of epidemics and the necessity of international cooperation in imposing quarantines. General congresses (that is, congresses not subdivided according to medical specialty) were convened from 1867 to 1913. The Twelfth International Congress of Physicians, held in Moscow in 1897, played a major role in developing and strengthening creative relations between Russian and foreign scientists.

The convening of specialized congresses has been given priority because of the differentiation of the medical sciences. For example, there are congresses of ophthalmologists (since 1857), pharmacists (since 1865), otologists (since 1876), and psychiatrists (since 1878), as well as congresses on first aid (since 1878), child protection (since 1883), tuberculosis (since 1888), dermatology (since 1889), and surgery (since 1905). Medical congresses are convened for virtually all medical specialties by their respective international societies and associations. The annual assemblies of the World Health Organization and World Medical Association (founded in 1947) are of a more general nature.