The third international conference on improving use of medicines was held in Egypt from 10 to 14 April 2011 in the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria. ICIUM is a unique event that takes place every seven years; the first two ICIUMs took place in Thailand, the first in 1997 and the second in 2004.

The conference brought together leading national and international policy-makers, programme managers, researchers, clinicians and other stakeholders to develop consensus on interventions to improve the use of medicines in non-industrialized countries, to define evidence-based recommendations for programme implementation and to generate global research agendas to fill gaps in knowledge. 

The sessions were organized around different levels of the health care system (global, national, institutional) and the topics running throughout the conference included: HIV/AIDs, tuberculosis, malaria, child health, chronic illness, drug resistance, economics, financing, insurance systems, essential medicines, policy and governance, the pharmaceutical industry and information technology for improving use of medicines.  

ICIUM is one of the few global scientific events which is based on active participation. The conference has a registration prerequisite for any participant to actively contribute to the scientific content of the conference. The conference’s organizing committee is aiming to provide 250 scholarships for participants from developing countries.