The International Menopause Society Report on the 10 th World Congress on the Menopause 10 – 14 June 2002 , Berlin , Germany

The aim of this World Congress was to cover ‘all aspects of health and well-being in an aging population’, and thus included the integration of gender as a variable in biology, behavior, ethnicity, cultural values, environment and health-care utilization. The Congress aimed to reflect the world-wide challenge for those working in the field of mid-life medicine – not just to provide more efficient medical interventions, but to invest in a ‘healthy aging’ initiative with major public health implications. The Congress was organized on a highly interdisciplinary basis and was intended to present the tremendous progress made in both basic and clinical science in climacteric medicine. The scientific program included a total of 140 different sessions, from plenary lectures and symposia to free communications, satellite meetings of national and regional societies and symposia organized by industry.