Official start for the "European Initiative for Exercise in Medicine" (EIEIM)

MOU signing in San Diego 

From left to right: Jim Whitehead, Jürgen Steinacker, Willem van Mechelen. Foto credit: EIM®

Exercise is Medicine® is now officially underway in Europe – the formal contract (MOU) was signed between the ‘European Initiative for Exercise in Medicine (EIEIM)’ and the American partner‚Exercise is Medicine®‘ (EIM) during the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) from May 2015, 26th-30th in San Diego. Jürgen Steinacker, EIEIM Chair and Willem van Mechelen, EIEIM Vice-Chair signed the contract in San Diego with Jim Whitehead, ACSM CEO/Executive Vice President after constructive discussions with EIM in the past two years. The MOU will strengthen EIM as a global health promotion initiative.

The national center meeting at the ACSM annual meeting was attended by 48 national center staff members from 16 out of the total 43 worldwide EIM nations. The meeting was a great platform to meet EIM colleagues from all over the world and to exchange ideas about implementing EIM concepts in the different countries. An important topic was the development of partnerships with sponsors, funders, health care and sports organizations as well as with government institutions.