World Congress on Radiographers

Radiographers head for World Congress in Durban
By Marlan Padayachee
M
ORE than 1 200 local and international delegates are heading for Durban this week for the four-day World Congress of the International Society of Radiography and Radiological Technologists, entitled Interweaving Global Images” at the International Convention Centre from 24-27 April.
Dr Fozy Peer, Leonie Munro and Yogi Govender, all of Durban and long-standing members of the Society of Radiographers of South Africa, were instrumental in winning the bid to hold the first conference in Africa.
The trio forms the nucleus of the congress committee that will oversee the running of the mammoth conference that gets underway at the city’s premier convention centre this Thursday, followed by three intensive days of business. However, delegates will experience the sights and sounds of the city when they are treated to a welcome party sponsored by the eThekwini Municipality and Durban Africa at the uShaka Marine World on Friday night.
Congress convener and member of the ISRRT Board, Dr Peer, said at the weekend: “After we lost the first bid, we pulled through by a majority vote at the ISRRT congress in Amsterdam in 2004. Since this vote of confidence in our capacity to organize a congress of this size and stature, it has been non-stop work to ensure that we put our best foot forward and deliver the first African World Congress to the international community.
“We are proud that this event will put radiography on the map, thereby sharpening the public profile of a profession that has been in the frontline of the medical and healthcare sectors,” she said.
“There are so many ‘firsts’ about this event. It is taking place for the first time in a developing continent and for the first time, South African radiographers in all four categories in future will be able to open their own private practices and the role of our colleagues will also be extended so that they could fully utilise their skills and expertise alongside other professionals in the public and private-sector medical and healthcare industry,” added Munro.
She said radiography was a worldwide “scarce skill” and the congress could stimulate interest in the school- leaving market in KwaZulu-Natal and the rest of the country.
Govender said the congress would serve to enhance the profession and provide an excellent platform for the exchange, interaction and transfer of academic and technical expertise, skills and knowledge economy.
“Tourism and the hospitality industry will stand to benefit and gain substantially from the flow of foreign exchange during the week-long conference. We are thrilled that job-creation will get a shot in the arm as Durban sets about to serve the more than thousand delegates from almost 50 countries, including India, the United States, Australia, Britain, China, Barbados and Estonia,” she said.
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Produced and Dispatched by Marlan Padayachee, Congress Media Liaison and Publicist
084 519 5931 or 031 266 5599/266 1762, or greengold@telkomsa.net