Dr. Celia Maxwell Confers with Women's Federation in China

Beijing, China - Dr. Celia J. Maxwell, MD, a Sister to Sister Foundation board member and a Howard University medical executive, conferred with the All China Women's Federation (ACWF) in Beijing in July, 2008, to discuss possible future collaborations on the issue of women's health in that populous country.

Li Xiaoxing the Division Director of ACWF; Jiao Pu Hui, M.D, Professor of Cardiology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital; Madame Shuji Chen the former Vice President and Member of the Secretariat of the ACWF; Dr. Celia Maxwell, Sister to Sister Foundation Board Member; Dr. Zhang Shuyang, Professor of Cardiology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital.

The federation is the largest women's organization in China.

"The discussions centered on areas of collaboration between the ACWF and Sister to Sister including the feasibility of holding an International Conference on Heart Disease in Women as well as focusing on the health of young women," Dr. Maxwell said.

Dr. Maxwell is Assistant Vice President for Health Sciences and Director of the Women's Health Institute at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Maxwell stressed that such a conference, which would take extensive planning, would include the participation of cardiologists from the United States.

"The discussions also included the concerns expressed by representatives of the ACWF over the increase in heart disease in Chinese women moving from rural to urban areas as a result of diet changes and a decrease in physical activities," Dr. Maxwell said.

The meeting was chaired by Madame Shuji Chen, former vice president and member of the Secretariat of ACWF. Also in attendance were Li Xiaoxing, the division director of ACWF, Dr. Jiao Pu Hui and Dr. Zhang Shuyang, both cardiology professors at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital, and Zou Xiaoqiao, director general of the International Liaison Department of the ACWF and a member of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women at the United Nations.

Irene Pollin, founder and chairman of the Sister to Sister Foundation, helped arrange the meeting through her international contacts.