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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Dear WHASA members,
On behalf of the Wound Healing Association of Southern Africa I would like to extend a word of gratitude to you for your continued support and active involvement in our Association.
The year is rapidly drawing to an end, in spite of a huge amount of work that still has to be done. The year 2010 has treated our Association well. Allow me the opportunity to focus on some of the activities that WHASA has been involved with.
Successful regional meetings have taken place in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Gauteng and North West province. We will have meetings in Mpumalanga and Limpopo towards the end of October. We intend having regional meetings in Kwazulu-Natal and Gauteng early in 2011.
Our Past-President, Liezl Naudé, convened an outstanding International wound care conference in September 2010: The UBUNTU Conference was supported by many local associations, including WHASA. It was the first time that our Association rubbed shoulders with international heavyweights like the World Health Organisation, the World Alliance of Wound and Lymphoedema Care and the World Union of Wound Healing Societies at the same time. This was a truly historic event and will be remembered as a landmark in our Association’s history. Well done Liezl!
At our Annual General Meeting on the 6th of September, Hiske Smart was elected as Vice President of the Association. Corne de Boer was elected as Treasurer. She was already on the Executive Committee in her elected position as Regional Chair for Gauteng. The other ex officio members are Liezl Naudé (Past President, Conference Convenor), Magda Mulder (Regional Chair Free State, Educational Committee), Karin Gerber (Regional Chair Eastern Cape, Publications), and Anne Berzen (Regional Chair Western Cape). Eva Lekwakwe and Gerda van Rensburg were elected as our newest Executive Committee members. Thabo Mokhobo (education Committee), who has done important work for WHASA in Limpopo and Mpumalanga, was re-elected. Liz Wilson-Chandler has been co-opted as Chair of the ever important Private Practice Committee. Dr. Adelin Muganza has accepted a co-opted position for Burn Wound Management on our Executive. Prof. Alan Widgerow has accepted his reappointment as Editor of our Journal, the Wound Healing Southern Africa. (www.woundhealing.co.za) Hiske Smart has also accepted an appointment as Co-Editor for the Journal. Nelouise Geyer, stepped down as Treasurer, but has been Co-opted on the Private Practice and Ethical Committees. Helen Robins stepped down after serving the Association as Exco member for the past 5 years. At the meeting it was agreed that WHASA would extend our agreement with ACI, our administrative partners. I would like to extend a personal word of gratitude to all present and past members of the Executive for both past and future contributions.
Magda Mulder and her team at the University of Free State have been very successful in training Wound Care Specialists for a number of years. We salute her for her continued work in wound care education. During the course of this year Hiske Smart successfully hosted the first International Interdisciplinary Wound Care Course at the Tygerberg Campus of the University of Stellenbosch, in cooperation with the University of Toronto’s Professor Gary Sibbald. Students from various disciplines and various African countries, including South Africa, participated in this inaugural course. I was privileged to be able to participate in this course. Please take the time to do at least one of these courses if you have not already done so! “It is what you think you know that prevents you from learning” (Claude Bernard).
WHASA has also actively involved itself in medical politics in an effort to effectively represent and lobby for its members. Prof Mulder had meetings with the Nursing Council in her effort to have Wound Care acknowledged as a speciality. Liz Wilson-Chandler and I have had recent meetings with the Director General of the Department of Health, as well as the Compensation Commissioner. I was also asked to present our case at the Medical Advisor’s Group Conference. I recently initiated discussion with the President of the Association of Surgeons of Southern Africa, to encourage formal collaboration. Next year will be an even greater challenge, but we are ready!
We humbly acknowledge the fact that we have been blessed beyond our expectations during this full and exciting year.
With the Wounds International Conference (1-3 February 2011) just a few months away, 2011 promises to be just as exciting. If you want to become more actively involved in the Wound Healing Association of Southern Africa, please contact me or your Regional Chair. I dare you to be the change that you want to see in the world of wound care!
Regards
Gregory Weir
President: Wound Healing Association of Southern Africa
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Download the Past president letter 2009
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