CTICC and Gift of the Givers Conference

Gift of the Givers presents first conference of its kind in the world – Preparedness for Humanitarian Disasters

Cape Town – 22 May 2023 – The Centre for Global Surgery at Stellenbosch University, in collaboration with Gift of the Givers, are holding an exclusive two-day conference on Preparedness for Humanitarian Disasters on the 27th and 28th of May 2023, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).

The exclusive two-day conference on Preparedness for Humanitarian Disasters will be led by Dr Imtiaz Sooliman and his team, using real missions to teach logistical, medical and ethical principles of working in disaster settings.

The conference will teach the various aspects of disaster intervention, including the role of medical teams, trauma counsellors, dieticians, K-9s, etc. in search and rescue, as well as discussions on war evacuation, hostage negotiations and ethics.
The Centre for Global Surgery has an interest in training surgeons to work in humanitarian disasters, where surgical care is unavailable but needed.

Dr Sooliman, founder of the Gift of the Givers, said, “There has been an overwhelming response to this conference, which reflects a real need for all parties involved in disaster management relief to be ready to handle a real life disaster situation should it occur in our country, such as the Boksburg Tanker Explosion and KZN floods.
We are grateful to the CTICC for sponsoring the venue that will accommodate the burgeoning numbers that the event has attracted, as well as to the various service partners of the CTICC for sponsoring associated services to host this conference.”

Over the two days, invaluable information will be shared, punctuated by Q&A sessions, covering topics such as ‘Adaptation and medication in crisis situations’; ‘Navigating the torso without a compass’; ‘Orthopaedics out of the box’; ‘Anaesthesia in Disasters: a matter of life and breath’; ‘Wound care’; ‘Emergency nutrition’; ‘What to do when there is no ICU’; and ‘Doctor! Help me! They have no space.’

Dr Sooliman invites academics, heads of department, disaster management teams from municipalities, health care workers and students to join the conference. “This is one of the first conferences of its type in the world, and will be an excellent educational workshop on real life disaster situations,” he added.

Taubie Motlhabane, CEO of the CTICC, responded, “We believe in the great work that is done by the Gift of the Givers, and it is an honour to have an opportunity to partner with them once more. In true Ubuntu spirit, our partners, Bidvest Prestige, AV Networks, ER24 and Evsol have once again come to the party to sponsor various services required for the conference.”

The conference, Preparedness for Humanitarian Disaster, takes place on 27 – 28 May 2023 at CTICC 22, Exhibition Halls 8, 9 & 10. Tickets for the two-day event, including a gala dinner on the first night, are R1,000 and R500 for students. Book at https://qr.link/GMuTzo or view the conference agenda at

https://tinyurl.com/GotG-Conference-Agenda

For more information, or to sponsor the event, contact Gift of the Givers – Ali Sablay on 082 651 4195 or Emily Thomas on 083 652 0315.

Issued by: Media Office, Cape Town International Convention Centre

Media enquiries: media@cticc.co.za, +27(0) 21 410 5000

Ends.