Message from the President NEW BEGINNINGS

New beginnings

New beginnings can be periods of anticipation, excitement and hope. We are able to look back at what we have been through and look forward to a different future. When the clock strikes midnight at the end of each calendar year, parties and fireworks often welcome in the New Year. Over the years, this has been a familiar sight. The recent transition from 2020 to 2021, however, was more subdued than in previous years. In some countries, this was due to lockdown restrictions and perhaps in other regions, a sense of uncertainty. Uncertainty as to whether 2021 really would be a better year, or whether we would experience much of the same. Was there really much to look forward to?

The vaccination race started at the end of 2020, as nations raced to vaccinate their populations and hopefully prevent the rising numbers of new infections and deaths. South Africa is still on the starting blocks with many questions as to when and how the full rollout of vaccines will happen. Healthcare workers have had an opportunity to be vaccinated as part of the Sisonke Phase 3b study, but we have yet to begin general population vaccination. As we close the first quarter of 2021, we are still not entirely sure what 2021 will look like. What we do know, is that we have had to learn to adjust and live with uncertainty.

Despite lockdowns, fear and loss, life has had to continue. It looks different to the way we did many things pre-Covid. Many of us are sick of hearing about the ‘new normal’. We want to go back to a life before masks and social distancing. Despite all the disappointments of the last few months, some of us have learnt new skills and realised that we could live without some of the things we thought we couldn’t live without.

The new term of office of the incoming OSSA EXCO also looked quite different. The new OSSA President usually receives the Presidential chain from the previous President at a banquet held at our annual OSSA Congress. Due to Covid-19, our congresses for 2020 and 2021 unfortunately had to be cancelled. The functions of the Executive Committee have quietly continued in the background. True to the times we are living in, I took over from Prof Linda Visser at a Zoom meeting held in March 2021 and our new EXCO took office.

I would like to thank Prof Visser for the way she has ably led EXCO during some uncharted waters, particularly in the last year. OSSA and OMG are more united than they have been in a long time and my hope is that this will continue.

Dr Johann Serfontein has brought stability and direction in his many roles within OSSA and OMG and I was looking forward to working with him as National Operations Manager of OSSA. As he wraps up his time working within the ophthalmic community, I wish him and his family all the best in their new life abroad.

The EXCO I am about to lead looks quite different from the one I joined as a young ophthalmologist. I am excited by the diversity and energy this new EXCO brings. My hope is that this diversity will allow us to explore different perspectives and meet the needs of all ophthalmologists in South Africa.

This new beginning is an opportunity to build on the gains our Society and profession have made so far and work towards an environment in which Ophthalmology and ophthalmologists may thrive. It is a time to continue to work for the vision that OSSA has to provide attainable, best quality visual health for all. 

Dr Bayanda Mbambisa

MBBCh(Wits), DA(SA), FCOphth(SA), MMed(Ophth) President: Ophthalmological Society of South Africa bmbambisa@gmail.com