The 9th Infection Control African Network (ICAN) Conference took place in Cape Town, South Africa. from 29 June to 2 July. The conference theme Advancing IPC and AMS for a safer tomorrow attracted a wide range of healthcare related topics and brought together participants from all over the world, especially from Africa. The NiCaDe IPC sub-project was invited to present two posters on the Participatory Approach to Learning in Systems (PALS), an approach that emphasizes that social skills like teamwork, interprofessional collaboration, non-violent communication and organisational development for healthcare professionals and management are central to improving infection control and the quality of care in general. Dr. Tochi Okwor, project manager at the NCDC, enriched the project’s presentation with two important sessions on ‘Re-emerging infectious diseases’ and ‘Cholera: Ongoing threats and responses’.
Stimulating discussions were held, numerous contacts were made and existing ones strengthened. It was also an opportunity for teambuilding. The team is already looking forward to the ICPIC conference in Geneva in September, where the sub-project will make an oral presentation on the topic of ‘Behavioural and contextual changes for better healthcare practice: IPC goes social’.
