Welcome

Dear Colleagues

I wish to thank you all for attending the 25th Southern African Transplantation Society Congress and Global Alliance for Transplantation Workshop. The scientific programme was packed with exciting information which I am sure we have all taken something away from.

I would like to say a special thank you to all of our international guest speakers. We were very privileged to host 20 international speakers, all of whom are leaders in the field of transplantation.

I would like to thank The Transplantation Society for sponsoring the Global Alliance for Transplantation Workshop which was a first for Africa, and also thank the dedicated African Delegates with whom this programme would not be possible.  I would also like to thank Dr Luc Noël for the continued support we received from the World Health Organisation.

Without the invaluable support of our local corporate partners, a congress like this would be impossible. So a big thank you to them, who continued to support us despite the difficult economic climate.

Thank you to my colleagues Alexia Michaelides and Fiona McCurdie who helped with the organisation of the Congress, and the academic and social programs, as well as Karin Diederichs and Lauren Gleeson and their Scatterlings team for all the hard work in helping to make this Congress a truly memorable one.

I would like to thank the organisers of the World Transplant Games 2013 for accommodating our delegates at their Social Events and various sporting races.  I believe that the World Transplant Games 2013 was a tremendous success.

Thank you to all of our delegates who travelled from near and far.  We hope that you found the programme to be interactive and interesting and look forward to seeing you at the 26th SATS Congress.

Dr Elmi Muller
Chairperson, 25th SATS Congress 2013 and President of the Southern African Transplantation Society