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Message from the Course Directors: William Wijns, Mpiko Ntsekhe and Farrel Hellig

It is with great enthusiasm that we announce our plans for AfricaPCR 2020. 2019 was a first ever, unique festival of meetings, hosted collaboratively by PASCAR, SA Heart ^®, and AfricaPCR. We have been pleased and humbled by you very positive feedback. The meeting allowed us to forge a partnership with SA Heart ®, solidify our long-standing strong bond with PASCAR and increase our reach across the wider community of African Cardiologists. The experience of working closely with SA Heart ^® and running several simultaneous congresses in 1 venue will enable us to reach even further in 2020 whilst maintaining AfricaPCR’s core identity. We aim to again meet and share experiences and collectively enhance the delivery of interventional cardiovascular care on our continent.

The content of AfricaPCR 2020 will keep faith with the “by and for” principle, whereby your needs assessment and course feedback will provide the template for us to compose a course designed in accordance with your wishes, and where your active participation will make the course your own.

In 2020, our 2-track formula, so successful in the past, will continue. Learning and Applied sessions will run in a staggered parallel manner allowing attendees to learn and understand their choice of procedures from first principles in the learning session, followed by advanced application in the applied track, which will incorporate live transmissions comprising a mix of structural and coronary cases.

The learning track is designed for delegates who want to develop the skills needed to initiate a new interventional programme or a new procedure. Live-in-a-box cases are used to create a scenario for interactive learning and discussion and material is carefully chosen based on your feedback from prior editions. The applied track is designed for attendees who are already performing procedures but wish to achieve a higher level of proficiency and knowledge. The applied track is based on live cases which are carefully chosen to meet the needs of a broad range of African interventionalists. The programme structure will continue to allow you the opportunity to present your own work in the interactive ‘Case Corner Sessions’ which will be held as pre-congress interactive workshop, in an environment where it will be quiet and intimate to facilitate discussion amongst the attendees. So please start thinking about cases you may wish to discuss with your colleagues and watch out for the “call for cases”. The important ”Stent-Save-a-Life” programme will be back with a dedicated session.

Critical to our prior aim to appeal to all members of the heart team has been the active involvement of our Allied professional colleagues. In 2020 we aim to further highlight their essential role in our cathlab environment, in accordance with our vision of the Cath Lab Team working together in a joint educational initiative.

The Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg is a world-class facility with considerable infrastructure on its doorstep. We believe that it will be the ideal setting to allow you to get your fill of practical tools and tips to take back to your Cath Lab from AfricaPCR, share space and ideas with colleagues and friends from throughout our continent. We look forward to meeting old and new friends in October 2020.