Africa Health hailed as a catalyst for healthcare changes in Africa Informa Life Sciences Exhibitions

Press Release
The Africa Health Exhibition and Congress 2012, which recently concluded at the Expo Centre in Nasrec, was hailed as a catalyst for much-needed healthcare changes in the region by conference delegates, exhibitors and visitors alike. The event, which took place in Johannesburg, SA, between 9 and 11 May 2012, featured 12 CPD accredited clinical and non-clinical conferences that ranged from imaging, radiology, medical laboratory through to mobile health, quality standards and infectious disease all presented by local and international speakers.
The Pan-African Healthcare Management conference as well as the First ever Private Practise Indaba, which was hosted by both the South African Medical Association (SAMA) and Africa Health, closed off conference proceedings with fascinating discussions about the challenges in the African healthcare system such as Public Private Partnerships (PPP), the role and importance of technology in healthcare, the challenges of Introducing a National Health Insurance (NHI) model in South Africa and how the introduction of NHI will affect private practice.
Speaking during the Private Practice Indaba, Kenneth Seymens, Managing Partner at Medica IQ in the USA said; “NHI is an excellent vehicle for the development of healthcare in South Africa. The model has been adopted with excellent results in countries like the US and the UK. Healthcare professionals need to embrace the changes the NHI will bring.”
The NHI will offer all South Africans and legal residents access to a defined package of comprehensive health services. Although the NHI service package will not include anything and everything, it will offer care at all levels, from primary healthcare, to specialised secondary care, and highly specialised tertiary and quaternary levels of care. NHI has not been formally introduced in South Africa; however, the government launched a pilot programme which commenced at the beginning of April 2012 in Pretoria.
Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, Nurses, Laboratory Technicians and healthcare buyers who attended the 2nd annual Africa Health were impressed by what was on offer.
“As a doctor in private practice I am thrilled to have been part of this event. I especially enjoyed the live product demonstrations. Not only do you get to see the product but you get to interact with it and test it yourself. It’s important that we as healthcare professionals are constantly updating the technologies we work with to maximise on our offerings. Our patients rely on us to give them the best and Africa Health allows that to happen without us having to leave the country,” said Dr Mokhele, a Pretoria based General Practitioner. “The wealth of knowledge I acquired by attending the conferences is incomparable. The presentations were excellent and thoroughly researched. The speakers were superb and I’m already looking forward to next years’ event.”
The 2012 edition of Africa Health Exhibition and Congress attracted more exhibitors than the inaugural event which took place in 2011 at the same venue. This year there was 6000 square metres of exhibition space with over 400 local and international exhibitors including Fujifilm, Karl Storz, Maquet, Siemens etc. and 17 country pavilions including representatives from Germany, China, India, UK, Thailand and Italy.
Cicelia Viljoen, Cardiovascular Product Specialist at Terumo said, “We’re delighted to have had the opportunity to showcase our range of new equipment especially the Kymerax Precision-Drive Articulating Surgical System at Africa Health. This revolutionary piece of equipment will allow surgeons to conduct surgical procedures such as Laparoscopies in a non-invasive manner. Many of the surgeons that visited our stands enjoyed interacting with the products. We are definitely looking forward to participating in Africa Health 2013.”
Also exhibiting at Africa Health were Draeger, an international leader in medical and safety technology. According to Peggy Schlie, Marketing Manager and Modality Manager for Respiratory Care at Draeger: “Africa Health was great; we loved being able to meet with doctors and healthcare buyers face-to-face, it was amazing to say the least. We will definitely be exhibiting next year and we look forward to an even bigger event.”
Managing Director at Informa Life Sciences Exhibitions, Simon Page said, “Africa Health continues to be the leading platform for medical practitioners, healthcare workers, government authorities and business leaders to come together to share information, exchange ideas and devise solutions to healthcare problems that continue to plague the African continent. More than 50% of exhibitors have already signed up for next year’s event and with visitor numbers up by 30% from last year; this is a good indication of the stellar reputation that Africa Health holds within the healthcare market.”
Africa Health Exhibition and Congress 2012 was endorsed by the South African Medical Association and supported by the Gauteng Department of Health and Social Development.
Editor’s Notes:
Africa Health Exhibition and Congress is a major three-day exhibition and congress dedicated to ALL healthcare professionals and medical trade buyers. Africa Health forms part of Informa Life Sciences Exhibitions portfolio and is also the sister event to Arab Health, the second largest healthcare event in the world. 2012 marks the second time the event is taking place in Africa. The first event took place in 2011. For more information please visit www.africahealthexhibition.com.
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