Long-term German-Russian initiative intended for experience exchange between allergologists started in Saint-Petersburg.

The first step in development of this initiative was the one-day medical congress "Allergy – a growing burden for people in Russia" where reports were given by leading specialists of public healthcare of Russia and Germany, among them: D. Sc. Med., V. L. Vanevskii Department of Anaesthesiology and Reanimatology, I. I. Mechinkov North-Western State Medical University Prof. Konstantin M. Lebedinskii;, Head of European Centre for Allergy Research Foundation (ECARF*),Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h. c. Torsten Zuberbier; President Russian Public Health Association Prof. Andrey Demin; Prof. Dr. med. Karl-Christian Bergmann representing Allergie-Centrum-Charité, Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Berlin.

Doctors – allergologists-immunologists, dermatologists, otolaryngologists and representatives of insurance companies have exchanged scientific conclusions and experience from day-to-day practice. Special attention was paid to information about researches carried out in the area of allergy, results of latest researches, possible causes of occurrence as well as modern methods of diagnostics and treatment of different types of allergy, including respiratory, skin and occupational allergies.

Open discussion "Allergy – a growing burden for people in Russia. What can be done?" took place within the Medical Congress. Practicing doctors, representatives of leading insurance companies of Saint-Petersburg, allergy-sufferers as well as lecturers and final-year students of the medical faculty and faculty for psychology of the Saint-Petersburg State University were active participants of the discussion.

European Centre for Allergy Research Foundation (ECARF) and OJSC "Ust-Luga Oil" acted as organizers of the event.