World Sleep 2011 will be held October 16-20, 2011, in Kyoto, Japan. In a special message last week, Ron Grunstein, MD, PhD, President of the World Sleep Federation, reassured the sleep medicine community about the perceived risks associated with travel to Japan.  

Dr. Grunstein clearly stated that all aspects of Worldsleep 2011 will go ahead as scheduled because the travel risks to Kyoto are minimal. As the map attached to the letter indicates, the Kyoto International Convention Center is hundreds of miles away from the hurricane and tsunami disaster area. The Kukushima Atomic Power Station, the site of the potential secondary nuclear disaster, is approximately 500 km from the meeting.  

At least 12,800 people were killed and nearly 15,000 people are listed as missing after the earthquake and tsunami wiped out hundreds of miles of the northeastern coast of Japan on March 11, 2011.

View Dr. Grunstein’s full letter