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South Africa meeting offers education and adventure
The 14th South African Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery Congress will be held in August.
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From Aug. 18 to Aug. 21, ophthalmologists from all over the world will meet in Durban, South Africa, for the 14th South African Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery Congress. In addition, many congress attendees will take advantage of a safari to one of the premier game parks in South Africa.
Durban is on the east coast of Natal Province, one of four provinces of South Africa, with white beaches washed by the Indian Ocean and climate kept semi-tropical by gentle breezes. Accommodation standards are high, and wherever you go, you are assured of a warm welcome and good service.
Take a stroll down any busy street and you will see a rich multicultural mix: cloaked Muslim women, blanketed Zulus, English-style businessmen and students of all races in customary faded jeans. You will see the history of the country reflected in a great number of museums and monuments, with the not-to-be-missed collection of Zulu art and Africana in Durban’s Campbell Museum. And if your taste runs to shopping, you will find a paradise in the Indian markets. With the South African currency exchange rate, the dollar goes a lot further than anywhere in Europe or Asia, and exceptional bargains are everywhere.
The 13th South African Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery Congress, held in Johannesburg in August 2009, attracted ophthalmologists from 16 countries, including the United States, France, Israel, Germany, England, Spain, Australia, Japan and India. The United States was represented by more than a dozen participants. The growing number of international participants gave evidence of growing interest worldwide despite the fact that South Africa is often portrayed overseas as an unsafe tourist destination.
Contrary to press reports and negative expectations, the international participants found South Africa to be a place of great charm with an honest facing of racial and social problems and a willingness to work out problems, much like in the United States.
Congress participants will have the opportunity to see South Africa as it really is, a land of contrasts, from ultramodern cities to nature unchanged for centuries. Thousands of American visitors to South Africa each year discover wine-growing regions as impressive as any in France and a diversity of climate, flora and fauna, and landscape impossible to discover elsewhere.
While still a developing country, as defined by the United Nations, South Africa is the most highly developed country on the African continent. The adult literacy rate is higher than 87%, compared with 71% in Egypt and 65% in Nigeria. With a ratio of one doctor to 90,000 people in Africa as a whole, in South Africa there is one doctor to every 1,500 people. South Africa is the economic mainstay of the African continent with its major exports of minerals, metals, chemicals, machinery and transport equipment, and agricultural products such as wool, sugar and fruit.
Despite its modern cities, advances in education and sports, and growing industry, South Africa is still a country of wide open spaces checkered with villages and farmlands, vineyards, rugged mountain ranges, fishing harbors and pristine beaches where people take to the great outdoors to relax and admire the beauty of their country. Some of the most beautiful golf courses in the world are here, but most visitors, not surprisingly, are attracted to the numerous game preserves scattered throughout the country.
August is spring in South Africa, and beauty abounds. They call it “a world in one country,” and in a day trip you can see sights that make you believe just that. On Natal’s western boundary, the craggy Drakensberg (dragon’s back) mountains are an unforgettable sight in every season. Further south, spring has a splendor all its own where the drab semi-desert is transformed into a blaze of brilliant blooms from one horizon to another.
In order to understand the complexity of South Africa, it is important to personally visit this oft misunderstood land. Visitors leave informed and impressed. Not only will this beautiful country startle you with its contrasts, but you will leave with a broader understanding of its people and an awareness of ongoing political and social change that signals a greater future. Ophthalmologists from around the world are invited to the congress not only to share their experiences but also to see the exceptional medical work being done in this developing country.
The South African Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery is affiliated worldwide with similar societies in 23 countries, including the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery and the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons. Dr. Jan Talma, president of the society, assures participants an unforgettable experience.
- Spencer P. Thornton, MD, can be reached at spthornton@comcast.net.
- Disclosure: No products or companies are mentioned that would require financial disclosure.