Please note that the below information is relevant to the 2012 Africa Health Congress.
Information about Africa Health 2013 will be available soon.
Click here to register your interest for next year's congress.
Overview
As a crucial component of healthcare, Laboratory Medicine provides all those involved in the healthcare system with crucial information that can make the difference in the quality, safety and efficacy of care given to patients. Doctors across all specialties depend on laboratories’ results to make critical decisions about the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease. Med Lab, the regions’ most innovative laboratory meeting, provides delegates an opportunity to learn about advances in science and their applications in laboratory medicine that will improve their practice through improving patient outcomes.
This year, the Med Lab conference will focus on Patient Diagnostics (Point of Care Testing). Point of Care Testing is defined as medical testing at or near the site of patient care. The driving notion behind POCT is to bring the test conveniently and immediately to the patient.
Advantage of POCT is that the patient, physician, and care team will receive the results quicker, which allows for immediate clinical management decisions to be made. However, it isn’t easy to implement POCT in all hospitals and clinics. Therefore, this conference will provide an overview of POCT development, the appropriate implementation strategies and latest trends in their clinical application.The programme, topics and speakers may change and IIR reserves the right to alter the venue/speakers without notice
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DAY 1 – Friday, May 11 2012 |
| 08.20 |
Opening Remarks by Chair:
Prof. Johan Esterhuyse, Head of Biomedical Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa
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SESSION 1: QUALITY ASSURANCE AND IMPLEMENTATIONS OF NEAR PATIENT DIAGNOSTICS
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| 08:30 |
Quality Assurance of Near Patient Diagnostics
Dr. Akos Somoskovi, Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, Geneva, Switzerland
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| 09.15 |
Proper Implementation of Point of Care Testing
Ms Elsie van Schalkwyk, Director, African Centre for Integrated Laboratory Training (ACILT), Johannesburg, South Africa
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| 10.00 |
Role of Pathologist in Implementation
Prof. Rajiv Erasmus, President, The South African Association for Clinical Biochemistry, Cape Town, South Africa
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| 10.45 |
What Clinicians need to know about the limitations of POCT
Dr. Megan Rensburg, Consultant Clinical Pathology, National Health Laboratories, Cape Town, South Africa
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| 11.00 |
COFFEE BREAK
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SESSION 2: CHALLENGES IN POCT IMPLEMENTATION
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| 11.30 |
Dilemmas faced with Evaluation of Cardiac Readers in the South African Setting
Dr. Jocelyn Naicker, Principal Chemical Pathologist, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital NHLS Laboratory, Johannesburg, South Africa
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| 12.15 |
Challenges of Implementing a Point of Care Testing Platform at an academic hospital in a developing country (Kenya)
Dr. Daniel Maina, Consultant- Pathology Department, Agha Khan Teaching Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya
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| 13.00 |
CD4 Point of Care Implementation; Malawi’s Experience
Mr Visopo Harawa, Regional Laboratory Coordinator, Howard University Technical Assistance Project, Lilongwe, Malawi
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| 13.30 |
LUNCH BREAK
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| 15:00 |
SESSION 3: DISCUSSION PANEL – SOLUTION TO CHALLENGES: WHAT CAN BE DONE? |
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Moderator:
Prof. Rajiv Erasmus, President, The South African Association for Clinical Biochemistry, Cape Town, South Africa
Panelist:
Dr. Akos Somoskovi, Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, Geneva, Switzerland
Ms Elsie van Schalkwyk, Director, African Centre for Integrated Laboratory Training (ACILT), Johannesburg, South Africa
Dr. Daniel Maina, Consultant- Pathology Department, Agha Khan Teaching Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya
Dr. Megan Rensburg, Consultant Clinical Pathology, National Health Laboratories, Cape Town, South Africa
Prof. Anthony Emeribe, President, The Federation of African Associations of Medical Laboratory Scientists, Nigeria
Mr Visopo Harawa, Regional Laboratory Coordinator, Howard University Technical Assistance Project, Lilongwe, Malawi
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| 16.40 |
Closing Remarks and Close of the Conference
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Advisory Board
Prof. Johan Esterhuyse, Head of Biomedical Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa
Prof. Rajiv Erasmus, President, The South African Association for Clinical Biochemistry, Cape Town, South Africa
Confirmed Faculty:
Prof. Anthony Emeribe, President, The Federation of African Associations of Medical Laboratory Scientists, Nigeria
Prof. Rajiv Erasmus, President, The South African Association for Clinical Biochemistry, Cape Town, South Africa
Prof. Johan Esterhuyse, Head of Biomedical Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa
Dr. Daniel Maina, Consultant- Pathology Department, Agha Khan Teaching Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya
Dr. Jocelyn Naicker, Principal Chemical Pathologist, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital NHLS Laboratory, Johannesburg, South Africa
Dr. Megan Rensburg, Consultant Clinical Pathology, National Health Laboratories, Cape Town, South Africa
Ms Elsie van Schalkwyk, Director, African Centre for Integrated Laboratory Training (ACILT), Johannesburg, South Africa
Dr. Akos Somoskovi, Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, Geneva, Switzerland
Key topics to be discussed:
- Use of Point of Care testing for Diabetes, Infectious Diseases (TB, HIV, Malaria) and Emergency
- Identifying the appropriate set up for the implementation of point of care testing
- Certification and training requirement for staff in implementation- as implementation of tests are not simple
- Role of Pathologists in the successful implementation of Point of Care
- Limitation of certain point of care device
Who should attend:
- Pathologists
- Clinical biochemists
- Clinical chemists
- Biologists
- Scientists
- Haematologists
- Phlebotomists
- Microbiologists
- Immunologists
- Histopathologists
- Laboratory technologists
- Laboratory Supervisors
- Medical Laboratory Directors
- Heads of Laboratory
- Laboratory technicians
- Research Assistance
- Professors of Medical Laboratory
- Professors of Pathology
- Endocrinologists
- Nurses