Harold Griffith (1894-1985) changed the practice of anaesthesia for all time with two huge contributions. Firstly he recognised the potential value of curare as a neuromuscular blocking drug to facilitate surgical access to all areas of the body without the need for overdoseage of other sedative drugs. Secondly he led the group of doctors who formed the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) which set out to improve the care provided for all surgical patients throughout the world. Despite these claims to greatness he remained a humble and approachable individual who was an inspiration to many generations of Canadian and American anesthesiologists both in laboratory research and clinical practice. In addition he became a friend and leader of almost every anesthesiologist around the world of that era. He is a true medical legend.
The WFSA has confirmed two world class speakers for the World Congress of Anaesthesiologists (WCA) 2016.
The WFSA and the Society of Anaesthetists of Hong Kong are pleased to announce that Dr Atul Gawande and Tore Laerdal will give the Harold Griffith lecture on Wednesday 31st August 2016 in Hong Kong. As two innovators in the field of medical care and global health, the event is not to be missed.
The WCA is the foremost global gathering of anaesthesia providers interested in learning, networking and engaging in open dialogue on important topics in the field of anaesthesia. Gawande and Laerdal will add to these rich discussions by sharing their views on the future global health.
Atul Gawande MD, MPH, is a surgeon, writer, and public health researcher. He practices general and endocrine surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and is professor in both the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health and the Department of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. He is Executive Director of Ariadne Labs, a joint centre for health systems innovation, and also chairman of Lifebox, a non-profit making surgery safer globally.
Dr. Gawande has been a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine since 1998 and has written four New York Times bestsellers: Complications, a finalist for the National Book Award in 2002; Better, one of the 10 best books of 2007 by Amazon.com; The Checklist Manifesto in 2009 and his most recent book, is Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, released in 2014.
He has won two National Magazine Awards, Academy Health’s Impact Award for highest research impact on healthcare, a MacArthur Fellowship and the Lewis Thomas Award for Writing about Science.
Tore Laerdal is Executive Director of the Laerdal Foundation, chairman of Laerdal Medical, and managing director of Laerdal Global Health.
Ever since modern lifesaving techniques were established around 1960, Laerdal Medical has developed training products and educational systems for resuscitation and patient simulation. It is a mantra of Laerdal that innovation is about impact that impact is best achieved through collaboration. To that effect the Laerdal family has a long tradition in pursuing its mission of helping save lives through partnering with professional associations, including collaboration with WFSA on the publication and global distribution of three editions of the WFSA CPCR Manual by the late professor Peter SAFAR.
In recent years Mr Laerdal has focused literally all of his time on helping reduce maternal and newborn mortality in low resource settings. For this purpose, he established the not-for-profit company Laerdal Global Health, which has partnered with USAID, NIH, Save the Children, the American Academy of Pediatrics, ICM and others in the Helping Babies Breathe alliance and the Survive & Thrive alliance.
Mr Laerdal serves as Chairman of the Board of two external research foundations in Norway. He holds an MSc degree from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration and is an honorary member of several professional associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the European Patient Simulation organization SESAM. He has received an Honorary Doctorate in Science from the University of Hertfordshire in the UK and is also a 2016 Oslo Business for Peace Honoree.
Organizers
© 16th World Congress of Anaesthesiologists
