Annual Report 2006

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PAEDIATRIC CARDIAC SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA, 20 OCTOBER 2006

1. INTRODUCTION

The Paediatric Cardiac Society of South Africa (PCSSA) is a special interest group of the South African Heart Association SA Heart), the umbrella body for cardiology and heart surgery in South Africa. PCSSA is a voluntary association of paediatric cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, cardiac anaesthesiologists and paediatricians, all with an interest in children with heart problems. The objectives of the Society are to improve quality of care for children with congenital and acquired heart disease though promoting research and supporting education and training of children’s heart specialists. PCSSA is the primary advocacy group for children with heart disease in South Africa.

The two year term of office of the current Executive of the PCSSA ends with fresh elections at the AGM on 31 October 2006. The period of stability has benefited the society and we have been able to give attention to important matters over and above our annual scientific meeting. As a Special Interest Group (SIG) of the South African Heart Association (SA Heart) we developed and strengthened that relationship.

2. FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2005

We are pleased to report that the Society is in a healthy financial position. The Annual Financial Statement for year ended 31 March 2005 prepared by our Treasurer Dr Ray Dansky, is appended. Reserves at 31 March 2006 were R 290 577.00, representing a growth of 60 percent compared with 31 March 2005.

3. RELATIONSHIP WITH SA HEART

There was unfortunately no meeting of the National Council of SA Heart this year. Notwithstanding, we have consolidated our good relationship with SA Heart. For the first time, the annual effort made by PCSSA in organising the Paediatric component of the SAHA Congress has received recognition. Our share of the profits accruing from the 2005 “Berg-rhythms” Congress amounted to R 100 000.00 or 10 percent of the total profit. The extent of the profit share from future SA Heart Congresses is well documented and recognised and will contribute to some extent to the expanding activities and interests of the Society.

4. TRAINING GUIDELINES AND ADMISSION CRITERIA

Represented by Dr Antoinette Cilliers, the Society made representations to the Colleges of Medicine of SA which agreed to decrease the requirement for the number of observed trans-oesophageal echocardiograms necessary for certification from 30 to 15 and observed EPS studies from 2 to 1 for candidates writing the Paediatric Cardiology exam in 2007.

5. PRIVATE PRACTICE AFFAIRS

We are represented at the South African Medical Association (SAMA) by Dr Jeff Harrisberg. The major current issue is the SAMA challenge to the legality of the publication of the national reference price list (NRPL). Until such time as negotiations between SAMA, the Department of Health and the Board of Healthcare Funders have been concluded, we will be to some extent unsure how to bill in 2007. We will be informed of progress in this regard through the Paediatric Management Group. There is as yet still no code for 3D echocardiogram.

6. CARDIAC CATHETERISTION LABORATORY REGISTRY AND DATA COLLECTION

Dr John Lawrenson and Dr Jeff Harrisberg have contributed to the development of the cardiac catheterization laboratory registry project of the SA Heart. There is expectation that the project is nearing completion and should be available for demonstration before year end.

7. GUIDELINES ON ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY IN CHILDREN

Over the last year, led by Ebrahim Hoosen, PCSSA has prepared a draft guideline entitled, “Standards of Practice for Echocardiography in Children in South Africa”. The template for this guideline is that of the Paediatric Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand who kindly granted permission for us to use their document for this purpose. The guideline will be submitted to SA Heart and South African Paediatric Association for comment in November 2006 and thereafter published in the Journal of the SA Heart Association.

8. GUIDELINES FOR CARDIAC CATHETERIZATION IN CHILDREN

In further recognition of our professional and ethical responsibilities, the PCSSA has considered the development of guidelines for cardiac catheterisation in children in South Africa. The scarcity of Paediatric Cardiologists in our country and the limitations on public sector financial resources compared with Asia, Europe and north America, makes a strong case for the development of such guidelines. The PCSSA, with guidance of Dr Shakeel Qureshi, is hosting a seminar on the development of these guidelines in Stellenbosch on the 28th of October 2006. Our thanks to Dr Jeff Harrisberg for the work he has done in preparing the draft and the programme. We are grateful to PARAGMED for there sponsorship for this meeting.

9. NETCARE PAEDIATRIC CARDIAC SYMPOSIUM: OCTOBER 2006

Our annual scientific meeting will be held in Somerset West between Sunday 29 October and 1 November 2006 as part of the Annual Congress of SA Heart Association. This year, the Congress is organised by the Bloemfontein Regional Group of SA Heart with Prof Steven Brown representing the PCSSA. He has done an outstanding job in attracting an excellent scientific faculty with University of Witwatersrand graduate and echocardiography giant Prof Norman Silverman retuning to South Africa from San Francisco, the internationally acclaimed interventionist Prof Ziyad Hijazi visiting from Chicago and the outstanding scientist and surgeon, Prof Emeritus at Great Ormond Street Marc de Leval, from the United Kingdom. Unable to participate in our Congress last year due to his involvement with the Humanitarian support for earthquake victims in Pakistan, we are also fortunate to have the participation of Shakeel Qureshi, Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist at the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals, London. Now in its 5th year, we are grateful for sponsorship received from NETCARE toward the Symposium. That sponsorship has been passed directly across to the SA Heart Congress Committee from PCSSA.

10. PCSSA RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIP

Although we have diverted funds and attracted additional direct support, there is not yet sufficient funding to launch the scholarship. Our year end activities will assist in this regard and we are in negations with a single major donor with whom we hope to jointly administer the scholarship.

11. SPONSORSHIP

The hospital group Netcare, has again been generous in its support of our annual scientific meeting, the NETCARE Paediatric Cardiac Symposium. Abbott Laboratories has supported the operations of our Society and our Research Scholarship initiative. Paragmed the medical supply company has funded our workshop on interventional cardiology.

12. THE YEAR AHEAD

Whilst one cannot determine the course of action to be followed by our new executive, it is hoped that they will build on the platform established for the PCSSA and continue to grow the activities with which we have engaged the Society. Particularly, the completion of the Catheterisation Guideline and the growth of the Research Scholarship initiative.

The Annual Congress of SA Heart in 2007 will be organised jointly by the South African Society of Cardiovascular Intervention (SASCI) and the PCSSA. This will be held in Sun City in the North-West Province.

The PCSSA has been invited to organise, chair and co-host the Paediatric component of the Joint Pan African Society Of Cardiology (PASCAR) / Kenya Cardiac Society - 1st All Africa Conference on Heart Disease, Diabetes, And Stroke in Africa which will be held in Nairobi, Kenya 13-16 May 2007. This is the first all-African iniative in Paedfiatric Cardiology an we hope, an opportunity to launch a paediatric group within PASCAR.

The PCSSA intends developing a South African parent orientated multi-lingual educational web-site on heart disease in children. Preliminary discussions have been held with potential private partners and it is hoped the new Executive will launch the project.

My thanks to my colleagues on the Executive of the PCSSA for their hard work and support.

Dr Christopher Hugo-Hamman
President PCSSA