Durban's Fozy Peer is rising in radiography ranks

Durban’s Fozy Peer – Rising Within the World of Radiography
By Marlan Padayachee
WHEN radiographers in South Africa and rest of the globe celebrate World Radiography Day on 8th November, one of its chief campaigners, Dr Fozy Peer of Durban, will be in the company of some of leading scientists at the conference of the International Atomic Energy Association in Vienna, Austria.
Dr Peer, a senior manager in nuclear medicine at the Chief Albert Luthuli Hospital in KwaZulu-Natal, is among the delegates attending this week’s four-day IAEA’s conference that will also focus on the latest Pet-Scan Imaging diagnostics purposes used to treat mainly cancer patients.
She said her attendance and participation at the conference will bring her to the coalface of nuclear medicine, radiography and radiology issues on a world scale as the conference has attracted some of the leading thought leaders, academics and exponents in the professions.
Back at home and in many countries around the world, including Africa, radiographers will be holding workshops, seminars, goodwill fellowships and get-togethers to mark World Radiography Day under the theme, Radiography: the Heart of Medicine, at government and private hospitals and medical centres and institutions.
Each year, the Society of Radiographers of South Africa, of which Dr Peer is a spokeswoman and board member, gather to pay homage to Professor Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen for his discovery of X-rays in 1895, an outstanding academic achievement that made him the first recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for physics in 1901.
Said Dr Peer, the first woman in the country to achieve a doctorate in radiography, and a director of public-relations and board member of the International Society of Radiographers and Radiological Technicians: “World Radiography Day is an annual international initiative that is aimed at raising awareness of and stimulating an interest in radiography as a profession. This collective contribution serves to highlight the importance of radiography, the indispensable function it plays, and the frontline role of radiographers in the health care environment.”
Hospitals and health care centres here and abroad will host open days and share information about radiography as a challenging career in the medical and healthcare sector
In the medical field, radiographers play a key role as frontline health workers, particularly during the upcoming holiday season when road fatalities and pedestrian injuries escalate at crisis proportions through speeding, reckless driving practices, especially drink-driving and drug abuse behind the wheel.
“World Radiography Day also highlights career opportunities for young graduates, promotes opportunities for radiographers to start their own practices, and puts the focus on how government can partner the private sector in stemming the flow of the flight skills. Scarce skills are bound to affect the quality of healthcare for patients across South Africa.”
Dr Peer, who has been credited locally and internationally for having brought the first World Congress of the International Society of Radiographers and Radiological Technicians to Durban, South in 2008, and then responsible for the hosting of the first joint conference of the Society of Radiographers of South Africa and the Radiological Society of South Africa in Durban this year, also confirmed the second joint Durban Congress of both disciplines will be held in the city from 18-21 April in 2013.
The next World Congress takes place in Toronto, Canada, in 2012.

SOUTH AFRICA CELEBRATES WORLD RADIOGRAPHY DAY 8 NOVEMBER 2011
RADIOGRAPHERS and medical support staff will join the rest of the world in celebrating and commemorating World Radiography Day on Tuesday, 8 November.
The Society of Radiographers of South Africa will observe this year’s theme, Radiography: the Heart of Medicine, in homage to Professor Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen for his discovery of X-rays in 1895 and first recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for physics in 1901.
“Radiography Day is an annual international initiative that is aimed at raising awareness of and stimulating an interest in radiography as a profession. This collective contribution serves to highlight the importance of radiography, the indispensable function it plays and the frontline role of radiographers in the health care environment,” said Dr Fozy Peer, spokeswoman for Society of Radiographers of South Africa and the International Society of Radiographers and Radiological Technicians.
Hospitals and health care centres in South Africa and across the globe will host open days and share information about radiography as a challenging career in the medical and healthcare sector.
Marlan Padayachee is a journalist and media consultant to the Society of Radiographers of South Africa.


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