Welcome

On behalf of the Wits Paediatric Fund, it is my pleasure to announce the 11th annual UpToSPAED conference in 2024.

UpToSPAED is the most consistent regular fundraiser for the Wits Paediatric Fund, whilst also being an educational event aiming to present the updates and new research for paediatricians andpaediatric staff.

The program will run as follows Thursday 2 half-day workshops; one on vascular access and the second on point of care ultrasound. The academic programme this year will again run over 3 day days, starting on a Friday afternoon, and ending mid-day on Sunday. All activities are CPD accredited,
including some ethics points. The programme this year includes a panel discussion on foreign patient care in the public sector and gastroenterology session, as well as the popular sessions of neonatology, infectious diseases and surgery to mention a few. The “Ethics of AI in clinical medicine” talk is also sure to be informative and topical.

Funds raised are used to assist Paediatric departments in hospitals associated with University of the Witwatersrand namely, the three central Johannesburg hospitals (Rahima Moosa Mother and Child, Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic, and Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic) as well as the six
satellite training circuit hospitals: Sebokeng, Thelle Mogerane, Klerksdorp and Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital, Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre and the Tambo Memorial Hospital.

Being the largest Department of Paediatrics and Child Health in the country and certainly in the region, our influence in terms of Paediatric practice goes well beyond our borders. With our alumni whatsapp groups (PAWS & PAWS 2)* we are now in direct contact with over 1200 paediatricians
across the continent and so we present a unique platform to engage with this large and growing Paediatric community.

We look forward to personally welcoming you to Up to SPAED 2024.

See you there!

Professor Ashraf Coovadia
Chair – Wits Paediatric Fund

*PAWS stands for Paediatricians in Africa Working in Solidarity