BEIJING, Nov. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Tencent Medipedia and NEJM Yi Xue Qian Yan, the Chinese version of New England Journal of Medicine, the world's leading medical journal and website under NEJM Group, jointly held the first Tencent Medical Enlightenment (ME) Summit in Beijing today. The Summit invited the most influential medical scientists and healthcare experts to share the latest advancements in cutting-edge medical technologies for major diseases such as cancer and AIDS, promoting medical science and knowledge among the general public.

Themed "Decoding Life", the first Tencent ME Summit aimed to grasp the light of medical enlightenment by exploring the microscopic world of human body and tracing the tracks of humankind's evolutionary journey. In his congratulatory note for the conference, Pony Ma, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Tencent, said the mission of the Summit is to "encourage more people to care about life and have better self-awareness, promote public health through authoritative popular science and reduce suffering from illness."

In her congratulatory letter for the Summit, Tu Youyou, the first Chinese Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine, also said, "Apart from focusing on their own fields of research, medical professionals should also bear the responsibility of popularizing accurate and authoritative medical knowledge among the public. As health and wellness are critical issues to human being, the medical community and enterprises' joint attention to medical science is in line with this development trend."

Xiao Ruiping, Chair Professor and Director of Institute of Molecular of Medicine at Peking University, Associate Editor of NEJM, Managing Editor of NEJM Frontiers in Medicine, said, "Cardiovascular disease, stroke and other chronic diseases have become the biggest health threat in China. Clinical research in China has improved significantly in recent years. We aim to introduce the most advanced international medical research and clinical practice to China, not only for the use of medical experts, but also for the benefit of general public who can access translated medical information through a reliable popular science platform."

Speakers at the conference include:

• Zhu Xiuxuan, Director of Liver Cancer Research, Massachusetts General Hospital

• Li Taisheng, Director of Department of Infectious Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences

• Fei Lipeng, Director of the Suicide Crisis Intervention Research Office, Shanghai Mental Health Center

• Xiao Ruiping, Chair Professor and Director of Institute of Molecular of Medicine at Peking University, Associate Editor of NEJM, Managing Editor of NEJM Frontiers in Medicine

• Tibor Kovacs, President of the European Society of Surgery Oncology

• David P. Ryan, Clinical Director of Cancer Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School

• Qiu Chen, special guest speaker on "Decoding Life"

• Zhang Meng, Vice President of Tencent Healthcare

At the Summit, Zhang Meng shared Tencent's progress in popularizing medical science. "As we know, popularization of medical science and knowledge is a mission Tencent cannot accomplish on our own. We can provide an open platform, condensing the wisdom of experts, and with the power of Internet technology, we can jointly build a bridge of trust between physicians and the public," added Zhang.

Launched in 2017, Tencent Medipedia is designed as an authoritative, professional and practical platform sharing healthcare information. Users are provided with knowledge from prevention, diagnosis, treatment of disease to rehabilitation. Through texts, photos, videos, interactive activities, AI assistant and 3D visualization, Tencent Medipedia brings high-quality original healthcare content from around the globe and localizes it to best suit the Chinese audience. It has a systematic and holistic approach to translate obscure medical knowledge into more reader-friendly information for the general public, enhancing their abilities to take care of their health and reducing their panic when facing diseases.

At the Summit, Tencent also announced the "Young Doctor Short Video Popular Science Competition", encouraging young medical professionals to open the door of medical science with rich Internet communication tools, with a view to bringing high-quality medical knowledge to the public.

Pony emphasized at last, "I hope 'Tech for Good' will become part of Tencent's mission and vision, guiding us to make the best use of technology, avoiding any misuse or inappropriate use of technology, and driving innovations and breakthroughs for the benefits of humanity."