From the 31st October to 3rd November 2019, the Cameroon Rheumatic Heart Disease Initiative was honoured by an acceptance to make both an oral and a poster presentation at the PASCAR, South-Africa Heart Association, and Africa PCR Congress in Sandton, Johanesburg, South Africa. Cameroon Rheumatic Heart Disease Initiative member, Dr Yanwou Nathan, received the acceptance as well as the African Travel Scholarship to support his flights and accommodation to support his attendance at this event. He commented that it was an incredible experience for him.
Dr Nathan count :
Interest in attending this event was motivated by Community Engagement Manager of REACH, Susan Perkins, who encouraged us to submit an abstract about the activities of our RHD Action Small Grant received in 2018 to create the first-ever RHD clinic in Cameroon. As soon as the opening for applications was launched, we applied and submitted our abstract. At the same time, we applied for the African Travel Scholarship. We learned we were among the grantees when the announcement was made in September.
Then came the task of applying for the South African visa to attend the Congress – which was no easy feat! Fortunately, the visa was issued on time and I was able to join the Conference starting on the 31st of October. This first day was marked by the RHD Consortium pre-session followed by a dinner to celebrate the RHD Action Small Grants Programme. The Small Grants Programme was a joint project of REACH and The World Heart Federation with funding from the Medtronic Foundation. Small Grant winners, representatives from REACH, WHF and Medtronic Foundation, along with some of the grant reviewers were happy to meet each other and discuss their various expériences and common interests.
The rest of the Congress also had a strong focus on RHD. The culminating point was the Bongani Mayosi Memorial RHD Summit chaired by Prof Ana Olga Mocumbi from Mozambique and Dr Emmy Okello from the Uganda Heart Institute. Dr Yanwou was honoured to present abstract about our project among the others in this session who are fighting against RHD in Africa. We can’t end this without mentioning the Congress Plenary Session, also held in the honor of late Prof Bongani Mayosi, a champion in the fight against RHD in Africa.
The Congress was not all about science. We also had a lot of fun, especially during the Rugby World-Cup final where South Africa faced England in a very exciting match. The Congress organizers agreed to stop the Congress during game time. Fortunately, we in the Rainbow Nation won the final match to the delight of all.
This was a great opportunity for Cameroon Rheumatic Heart Disease Initiative to show-up and connect with other people. Fruitful collaborations are on the way. Stay tuned.
