SAGES Magazine

THE SOUTH AFRICAN GASTROENTEROLOGY REVIEW 2021 | VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 2 | 32 GASTROENTEROLOGY FOUNDATION COVID-19 prevented an annual meeting in 2020, but the PBM community was determined to host a meeting in 2021. With strict COVID-19 precautionary measures in place and the use of technology, a very successful hybrid meeting took place with 30 in-person attendees and 80 PBM enthusiasts joining virtually from around the globe. The program was set to stimulate conversation, inform on crucially important topics and provide guidance on potential future focus points. The morning started off with “PBM – a global perspective”, presented by Professor Axel Hofmann – all the way from the island of Crete via zoom! He stated that diffusion of knowledge on PBM started in around 2007. He highlighted that unfortunately PBM has not yet been embedded in the medical ‘toolkit’ for all clinicians, although some countries have reached a high level of maturity in PBM, with Western Australia being the benchmark. South Africa has made a good start, the challenge now is to scale the “mountain of complacency” to reap the full financial and healthcare benefits of a comprehensive PBM program. The presentation concluded with a useful toolkit to assist with the rollout of PBM. Professor Vernon Louw then presented on “Iron deficiency diagnosis and treatment”. He reminded us that iron deficiency is the most common health problem globally. He shared a summary of the major steps in iron metabolism, providing insight into the interpretation of commonly used Using technology to bring the Patient Blood Management (PBM) stakeholders together: 3rd Annual Sub-Saharan PBM Interest Group meeting – Cape Town, 2021. Petro-Lize Wessels Lead Consultant Patient Blood Management, South African National Blood Service