parallel sessions - International Society for Blood Transfusion

ISBT2006WORDS OF WELCOME5It is with great joy and pride that we welcome you all to Cape Town and our wonderfulcountry. We trust that you will all enjoy what promises to be an excellent congressat which international speakers will be presenting the most up to date scientificdiscoveries and practices in the varied fields of transfusion medicine. The scientificforums will include educational programmes, symposia, plenary sessions and concurrentsessions.The programme will pay attention to the needs of resource limited countries with lessdeveloped blood transfusion services. Testing, prevention and inactivation strategiesfocusing on transfusion transmitted diseases, including HIV that ironically originatedin Africa and that have changed the landscape of transfusion medicine, will be alsobe widely covered. The congress thus will provide an ideal opportunity for all participantsto discuss and debate their own special interests and priorities with expertsand colleagues.We have prepared an exciting social programme that will give you the opportunity toenjoy one of the world’s most beautiful cities and its scenic environs. We hope youalso make use of your visit to join some of the pre- and post-conference tours aroundSouth and Southern Africa and view the diverse and unique flora and fauna synonymouswith this region. We extend our appreciation to our main sponsors and all the othercontributors and participants who have made this congress possible.This is the first time that an ISBT congress is being held on African soil and thus hasgreat significance for your hosts the South African Blood Alliance and the Africa Societyfor Blood Transfusion.We hope your stay in South Africa will be a memorable one!Anthon HeynsCongress President.Graham ThurtellCongress ChairmanXXIX TH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF THE ISBT