Invitation Letter

Dear Colleagues,                                                               

On behalf of the International Kava Executive Council (IKEC), the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat (PIFS), the Fiji School of Medicine, the University of the South Pacific and the Government of the Republic of Fiji Islands we would like to invite you to the International Kava Conference (IKC) 2004, to be held from 30 November to 2 December, 2004 in Suva, Fiji.

It is two years now that several health authorities have cancelled the market authorization of the Pacific herbal kava (Piper methysticum). A decision that has been highly controversial discussed within the scientific community and that has resulted in a problematic socioeconomic situation in the kava producing South Pacific Islands’ states. Since then, numerous articles have been published presenting new data and providing comprehensive information on kava. Furthermore, recent developments, such as the decision of the World Health Organization to re-evaluate all available scientific data on kava, and the results obtained from the highly profitable talks with the German Deputy Health Minister Dr. Klaus Theo Schroeder and representatives of the British Medicine and Healthcare Regulation Agency (MHRA), now increasingly demonstrate the willingness of all effected parties to resolve the kava situation.

Therefore, it appears to be a good time for scientific experts, together with representatives of the various health authorities, to come together discuss these findings and identify ways to assure patients and physicians that they are provided with safe kava. We are aiming high at the International Kava Conference by breaking new grounds in developing a commonly agreed approach to bring the scientific discussion on the safety of kava forward. For achieving this goal we want to bring together scientific experts working with kava, representatives of health authorities, the WHO and its pharmacovigilance centers, pharmaceutical / herbal / health associations as well as representatives of governmental and intergovernmental organizations and kava growers and traders and offer them a forum for fruitful discussions.

Your participation at the IKC will contribute to the success of this event and to achieving our common goals, and is therefore greatly appreciated.

Therefore, we will be pleased to welcome you at the IKC 2004 in Fiji and are hoping that you would like to and can find the time to help making this conference a fruitful event.

Sincerely yours,

Dr. Joerg Gruenwald International Conference Office	Dr. Subramaniam Sotheeswaran Local Programme Chair

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Kava Report 2003

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International Kava Conference

30 Nov - 2 Dec 2004, Suva, Fiji