27 WORLD GASTROENTEROLOGY NEWS NOVEMBER 2016 Editorial | Expert Point of View | Gastro 2016: EGHS-WGO | WDHD News | WGO & WGOF News | WGO Global Guidelines | Calendar of Events Inauguration of the WGO Blantyre Training Center – May 2016 The Blantyre Endoscopy Training Center was officially inaugurated as a WGO Training Center on 10 May 2016. The Blantyre Training Center, based at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH), is a collaboration between the World Gastroenterology Organisation (WGO), British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG), the Joint Advisory Group on GI Endoscopy (JAG), and the local partners QECH, the University of Malawi College of Medicine (CoM) and the Malawi Ministry of Health (MoH). The inauguration event was followed by a three day training course for Mala-wian endoscopists and nurses, with international faculty also attending to assist training. The Training Center has aimed to achieve a sustainable endoscopy train-ing program within the country. The unit was established as a training hub in 2008 and has trained several local endoscopists to become effective local trainers. The network within Malawi has expanded since 2008 and now operates as a hub and spoke system, with QECH Blantyre (supported by the University of Liverpool and the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen Uni-versity Hospitals NHS Trust) as the hub and three district hospitals acting as spokes; Kamuzu Central Hospital, Lilongwe (supported by Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust); Zomba Central Hospital (supported by South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust) and Mzuzu Central Hospital (supported by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde). The hub and spoke hospitals work together to train Malawian medical staff with interna-tional support. The main driver for developing endoscopy services in Malawi has been the high level of pathology requiring therapeutic endoscopic intervention; most notably esophageal varices and esophageal squamous cell carcinomas. At the Training Center, endoscopists and nurses are trained in multi-layered training sessions with hands-on patient training, and the use of models for skills sessions. In addi-tion, the Training Center has recently developed a foundation course for trainees without endoscopy experi-ence, allowing registrars and clinical officers to gain a basic understanding of the role of upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy in the diagnosis and management of common upper GI disorders, how to prepare patients for endoscopy, and how to recognize and manage endoscopic complications. Events on the inauguration day started with a tour of QECH and CoM, led by Prof. Melita Gordon, director of the Training Center. Fol-lowing this, Dr. Henry Mwandumba introduced the official event, which included speeches from each collabo-rator. Prof. David Bjorkman from WGO and Dr. Andrew Veitch from Melita Gordon, BA, BM, BCh, MA, MRCP, DTM&H, MD Director, Blantyre Training Centre Professor and Honorary Consultant in Gastroenterology, Univer-sity of Liverpool Group Leader, Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme (MLW) & University of Malawi College of Medicine Carolyn O’Leary, BSc (Hons), MPH Programme Support Officer Wellcome Trust Liverpool Glasgow Centre for Global Health Research University of Liverpool Delegates receive certificates following the first courses at the Blantyre Training Center Delegates attend the inauguration event at the Blantyre Training Center
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