HEALTH CONFERENCE TO INJECT COAST ECONOMY

THE Gold Coast has been selected to host 1500 international medical delegates at the 13th Congress of the World Federation of Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology (WFITN).

While the conference is expected to drive more than $2.5 million into the local economy, the spending and its effects won’t be delivered until the event’s scheduled date in 2015.

The Gold Coast beat other well-credentialed bids from Paris, Budapest, Delhi and Kobi (Japan), becoming Australia’s inaugural host destination of the WFITN Congress.

Gold Coast Tourism CEO Martin Winter, says the five-day congress will ‘significantly contribute to the Gold Coast’s burgeoning smart city reputation’.

“The Congress will bring together some of the world’s greatest minds in interventional and therapeutic neuroradiology and will provide exciting opportunities to promote greater business migration and investment in the city,” he says.

“The host organisation, the Australian and New Zealand Society of Neuroradiology represents cutting edge technology and research, so the local industry will also be exposed to top level advances within the field.”

Gold Coast University Hospital Interventional Neuroradiologists Dr Hal Rice and Dr Laetitia de Villiers, worked closely with the Gold Coast Convention Bureau to produce the winning bid presentation.

Dr Rice, who is also the Gold Coast partner of Qscan Radiology Clinics was equally enthusiastic about what the 2015 WFITN Congress will mean for local practitioners.

"We put a massive amount of work into our bid to win this prestigious meeting for the Gold Coast knowing that it will bring into the spotlight the high quality service we provide here locally with our talented team,” says Dr Rice.

"To beat cities such as Paris, Budapest, New Delhi and Kobi in the running for this meeting is an amazing professional honour, but also a testament to the great meeting facilities available here locally on the Gold Coast and the desirability of the Gold Coast as a venue for such prestigious international meetings.

"The meeting will showcase the very latest technology and advances in the speciality which treats patients with serious brain conditions such as brain aneurysms and stroke through ground breaking minimally invasive endovascular surgical techniques.

"The ability to repair a ruptured brain aneurysm or rapidly reverse the devastating effect of a stroke by navigating inside a patient’s damaged or blocked blood vessel can result in improved patient outcomes with shorter hospital admissions and faster recovery times following treatment."

Last week the city’s key attractions and diverse conference hosting facilities were showcased to more than 300 travel and industry delegates during a maiden voyage by China Southern Airlines.