Business and professional events are key to economic and social transformation. South Africa’s Minister of Tourism, Derek Hanekom, confirmed as much at Meetings Africa 2019, held recently in Sandton, Johannesburg.
Minister Hanekom acknowledged the contribution to tourism numbers from business events but emphasised that the legacies of events in healthcare and economic development were where the real value was to be realised.
Hanekom: “…the real value in the business events is the business they are here for”.
Hanekom’s message was echoed by healthcare association leaders Liesel Zuhake, South Africa Heart Association former President, and Makhoto Rose Lekhooa of the Society of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology. They identified challenges specific to Africa, for example in paediatric cardiology, with 80 percent of the world’s children living on the continent.
Securing the 2013 World Congress in Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery opened the floodgates to subsequent inbound medical events, including pan-African meetings, and left tangible legacies in improved patient care.
Legacies of the 2013 World Congress in Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery.
