Abu Dhabi: His Highness Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Court for Development and Fallen Heroes' Affairs and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Erth Zayed Philanthropies, inaugurated the 46th ICMM World Congress of Military Medicine – Abu Dhabi 2026 yesterday.
The ceremony was attended by His Excellency Mohamed bin Mubarak bin Fadhel Al Mazrouei, Minister of State for Defence Affairs, and His Excellency Lieutenant General Staff Ibrahim Nasser Al Alawi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Defence, alongside senior military and medical leaders, experts, specialists and researchers from around the world.
It opened with music from the Abu Dhabi Police band
Passes from Australia to the UAE
During the ceremony, the leadership of the International Committee of Military Medicine (ICMM) passed from Australia to the UAE. Major General Dr. Aysha Al Dhaheri, Executive Director of the Military Health Executive Directorate at the UAE Ministry of Defence, took over as chair.
The outgoing chair, Sonya Bennett, Surgeon General of the Australian Defence Force, was described at the ceremony as the first woman to chair the ICMM. She thanked the UAE leadership, the Ministry of Defence, the organising committee, and ADNEC Group for hosting, and said the scale and quality of the congress “is a credit to your nation.”
