The largest event of its kind, Africa Health brought together over 10,000 visitors, 600 exhibitors and 250 speakers over three days to engage in the best of what the world has to offer in healthcare innovation and experience.

Ryan Sanderson, Exhibition Director for Africa Health believes that the value proposition of the show to both visitors and exhibitors is unmatched anywhere on the continent. “Once again, Africa Health has provided a platform for leaders, healthcare specialists and trade executives to come together to learn from each other and take-home tangible benefits that will ultimately result in substantial health gains for Africa.”

A world leader in healthcare innovation and a principal partner to Africa Health, General Electric’s launch of CARESCAPE ONE at the event is an indication of the importance of this platform to the healthcare market. CARESCAPE ONE is an advanced lightweight plug-and-play monitoring solution for conducting intra-hospital patient transport. It allows nurses to visually monitor critical patient conditions with precision during active patient transport between care areas, and is designed to provide an efficient workflow with the added benefit of relative ease of use for new as well as experienced users.

“Our mission at GE Healthcare is to save lives in moments that matter - CARESCAPE ONE is a good demonstration of this mission. We are proud to partner with Medhold to make a lasting impact in intra-hospital transport across South Africa’s healthcare facilities,” said Graham Maritz, General Manager GE Healthcare Southern Africa.

Front runners in clinical diagnostics and first-time exhibitors at Medlab Africa, Randox, presented their impressive range of chemistry analysers that use biochip technology to detect and quantify pathogens, chemical contaminants and disease.

Speaking at the exhibition, Dr Liberty Sibanda, International Applications Manager for Randox, said that unlike conventional detection methods, these analysers can detect a number of parameters in one test. “In testing for cancer, our analysers will detect not only that the disease is present but will also detect the type of cancer present. Similarly, with food contaminants, this technology allows for many contaminants to be detected with one test. The touch screen technology allows for results in just 17 minutes and could easily be used in rural areas where there is electricity supply.”

Peer support

Expert support of Africa Health by several of South Africa’s health associations has enabled these entities to create awareness and increase exposure to their brands. Prominent associations such as the Council for Health Service Accreditation (COHSASA), Africa Healthcare Federation, Independent Practitioners Association Foundation (IPAF) are just some of the entities that have enjoyed a presence at this year’s event. Dr Kathy Dennill, Coordinator of South Africa Institute of Health Care Managers believes that Africa Health has given SAIHCM a face and increased its visibility. “It has allowed us to network and tell people about our vision.”

As a representative body for the country’s medical laboratory professionals, the Society of Medical Laboratory Technology of SA (SMLTSA) is involved in education, training and professional development of medical laboratory professionals. Kathleen Packer, Port Elizabeth Branch Chair of SMLTSA is overjoyed with the exposure they have received through the Africa Health platform. “We have answered questions and made connections with people from all over the world.”

Support for Africa Health by banking giant, Standard Bank, is a clear indication of the benefits that a forum like Africa Health can provide. Marcel Topandas, Standard Bank’s Regional Head for Personal and Business Banking in Gauteng explained that, as Africa’s largest bank by assets, Standard Bank is committed to driving the conversation and building financial and infrastructural ecosystems to realise Africa’s full potential.

Topandas added that, as a bank with an extensive footprint in Africa, Standard Bank knows what is central to the success of healthcare on the continent. Through meaningful partnerships, will and expertise, solutions to challenges and opportunities on the continent are within reach. Continued innovation, effective use of technology and training can ensure sustainability and growth within the sector going forward. Benefitting communities, societies and adding value across the whole socio and economic value chain.  

“The idea of partnering with Africa Health this year is to ensure that the message is conveyed to all stakeholders and key players in the sector that we are #morethanjustabank,” he said.

Building a caring society

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and charities have played a critical role in the development of South Africa’s health system. It is largely due to these entities that South Africa can now boast the most extensive rollout of antiretrovirals (ARVs) in the world to treat HIV/AIDS.

To demonstrate its commitment to building a caring and robust society, Africa Health donates the proceeds from its academic conferences to a local charity each year. This year, a cheque of R 605,000 was handed to the Reach for a Dream Foundation, whose mission is to encourage children to use their dreams to fight life-threatening illnesses and inspire hope. Previous years’ recipients include CHOC and the Tshemba Foundation who are also in attendance at Africa Health this year.

Natalie Lazaris, Head of Business Development at the Reach for a Dream Foundation, commented,” The donation is incredible and we are grateful beyond words. But the success reaches further than that, we have had nurses refer children to us, who were not part of our database, which we can now engage with and fulfil their dreams. We have also grown our medical database extensively and we have been able to meet very interesting companies and individuals who want to help the Foundation further.”

Support local

As the largest manufacturer of medical devices in Africa, the dedicated South African Pavilion provides an opportunity for local manufacturers of healthcare products to demonstrate their competitive pricing and show off their products.

Marius Potgieter, Product Developer from the Central University of Technology (CUT) in Bloemfontein says that the products developed and produced at CUT are world class and often superior to international competitors as they are more suited to the African market. “Africa Health has provided amazing exposure and over the past three days, we’ve had interest from many of our neighbouring countries and as far afield as Tanzania.”

Grace Botes from local orthopaedic medical device manufacturer, Orthopaedic Textiles, said that the interest shown from visitors from Lesotho, Swaziland and Botswana has been phenomenal. “Through the Africa Health Exhibition, we have been able to show visitors that locally manufactured products provide a cost effective and quality solution to their needs.”

Sanderson believes that the Africa Health platform provides an enabling environment for all key players in health to engage and find solutions for Africa by Africans. “Through the Africa Health platform, we believe that each year we are coming closer to reaching our ideal of a cohesive and robust health system in Africa.”

Highlights video:
https://youtu.be/z_suKHZ8Q6Q