SA Radiographer Elected President of International Society

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UKZN Honorary Lecturer Dr Fawzia Peer of the Department of Nuclear Medicine at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital (IALCH) in Durban has been elected the 14th President of the International Society of Radiographers and Radiological Technologists (ISRRT) for 2014 - 2018.

The fourth woman president and the second president from Africa, Peer was elected during last month’s ISRRT council meeting in Helsinki, Finland.

‘I feel elated, but also really honoured and privileged to hold this prestigious position,’ said Peer, who has been a Radiographer for more than 30 years.

As part of the organisation’s mission, she will act as the international liaison representative for Medical Radiation Technology, representing the practice as President of the ISRRT.

Nuclear medicine is a medical field which involves the application of radioactive substances in the diagnosis and treatment of disease.

Said Peer: ‘The future of nuclear medicine is molecular imaging. We were fortunate to have the first PET-CT scanner in the public sector in South Africa in 2006. The Department of Nuclear Medicine at IALCH provides diagnostic and therapeutic services to its patients.’

* Peer is the Manager of the Department of Nuclear Medicine at IALCH. She is qualified in both Diagnostic Radiography and Nuclear Medicine and is an Honorary Lecturer and Co-ordinator at the Department of Radiation Medicine at UKZN. Peer was also elected to the Radiography and Clinical Technology Board of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HCPSA) where she served two terms of office on the executive committee, representing Radiography.

- Words and photograph: Zakia Jeewa