Invitation

Dear Colleagues

After a very successful First Infection Prevention and Control Africa Network (IPCAN) conference which was held in 2009 in Uganda, we are pleased to welcome you to the Joint IPCAN / IFIC Conference to be held from the 29th August to 1st Sept 2010 at Spier, Cape Town, South Africa. This will be the second IPCAN Conference held jointly with the International Federation of Infection Control (IFIC).

The disease profiles in Africa differ from those of the well resourced countries and lean towards diseases of poverty as well as healthcare associated infections. The great advantage of a joint conference with IFIC is the vast experience that IFIC has from both developed and low resource countries. The Joint IPCAN / IFIC conference will address the diversity of diseases and will address aspects of infection prevention and control relevant to our continent. Nevertheless infection control speak a universal language. The presence of international delegates will also offer a unique opportunity for the sharing of experiences between infection control professionals from different countries and backgrounds. We also hope it will initiate contacts between delegates who are experienced in the subject and others who may just be starting out.

The scientific programme is focused on scientific sessions relevant to Africa supported by presentations by IFIC and other organisations related to the management and containment of infection and its consequences. There will be active participation by the World Health Organisation relating to injection safety, patient safety, outbreak responses and the most recent containment systems in place to deal with such issues. The International Society of Chemotherapy will be organising a session on Antibiotic Stewardship and the appropriate use of antimicrobial agents to reduce or prevent antimicrobial resistance. Setting up of sterile services and structuring decontamination and sterilisation of medical equipment within limited resources will be addressed.

The programme also includes an opportunity for delegates to present their original scientific research in free paper and discussion sessions.

IFIC is offering a number of scholarships to facilitate delegate attendance, especially from low resource countries. Further information and application form can be accessed from www.theific.org. The closing date for scholarship applications is 31 March 2010.

Apart from a robust scientific programme there will be ample opportunity to network and form new links and support during the conference and the social occasions which have been organised for you.

I do not have to tell you how beautiful Cape Town is. Please take this opportunity to visit some of these breathtakingly beautiful sites around Cape Town and make it a family holiday.

Spier is one of the most picturesque conference centres in the Western Cape and is very well equipped to handle a conference such as ours.

Finally, we welcome all of you to what will be a memorable Joint IPCAN/IFIC conference.

Shaheen Mehtar Chair IPCAN		MIchael A. Borg Chair IFIC