Next year, Cape Town will welcome over 10.000 delegates from 110 countries to the 37th World Ophthalmology Congress (WOC). Taking place between 26-29 June 2020 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (ICC), it will be the first time WOC taking place in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The WOC has been held since 1857, making it the longest running medical conference in the world. The theme for 2020 will be “all eyes on Africa” and the congress will feature the latest products and services in the field and provide delegates the opportunity to network with leaders in ophthalmology. The congress is held every two years in a different region of the world.
“Cape Town is a multi-award winning iconic city and of course provides the perfect stage for an international gathering of this magnitude,” says Amanda Kotze-Nhlapo, Chief Convention Bureau Officer at the South Africa National Convention Bureau, a business unit of South African Tourism.
“The Congress will not only help grow the Western Cape Tourism sector, but will also add a valuable contribution in growing the local knowledge economy”, adds Corne Koch, Head Convention Bureau: Cape & the Western Cape. “Cape Town’s location in Africa will benefit ophthalmology and eye-care on the continent, highlighting the disparities in eye-care globally, and in Africa specifically. Patients in Southern Africa specifically suffer unnecessary visual loss and preventable blindness, and this is an angle that was built into the Congress bid. We look forward to welcoming delegates to the province.”