19 September 2009
PRESIDENTS REPORT – PERIOD SEPTEMBER 2008 TO SEPTEMBER 2009
Dear Members and Colleagues
2009 will in History be written down as the year when:
- Barack Obama became President of the USA and if you would allow me to change his now famous election slogan of “Yes we can!” into the outgoing Executive Committee’s slogan of “Yes we did!”
- Jacob Zuma was inaugurated as President of South Africa
- Michael Jackson died under suspicious circumstances
- South Africa totally dominated the international rugby scene
- But as predicted during my report last year, it will also be known as the year of a huge financial Depression. Fortunately, we have not noticed the direct effects thereof as badly as the USA, Europe and Britain, but I can assure you that we will all be influenced in one way or the other. The worst is not over, and the best we can do is sit tight, and hold tight to your hard earned money.
The Executive Committee:
The Executive Committee of the Association during the past year were:
- Dr Kagiso Moloi - Vice President
- Dr Anne-Marie Oelofsen - Secretary
- Dr Sonja Obholzer - Treasurer
- Dr’s Martin Wucher, André Hanekom, Derell Louw, Nelson Herunga & Petrus Kakumai - Additional members
- Ms Birgit Gärtner - Co-opted member
To all of you, I would like to extend a word of thanks and gratitude for your hard work and input. Our meetings were mostly positive, and relevant discussions and decisions were made. I feel that we managed to get the job done with the minimum of trauma and conflict involved. Thank you all for taking time off from your busy practices and families in order to make the Association tick.
Membership:
The current membership of the Association is expanding every year and is now rapidly approaching the 100 mark. Membership consists of:
- Members outside of the capital - 31
- Members working in Windhoek - 42
- Dental Specialists - 7
- Oral Hygienists - 5
- Members that are not engaged in active practice - 11
- Total - 96
This total roughly represents 75 % of the total of registered Dentists in Namibia. Because of this, we can honestly say that this Association represents and reflects the Dental Population of Namibia.
Financial State of the Association:
The Association still has a good positive bank balance of approximately N$300 000.00 that is reflected in the financial statements that have been made available. During this last year, a large sum of money was used for marketing and advertising as approved by the AGM during September 2008. This will only reflect in the following year’s financial statements.
An unfortunate further loss of approximately N$60 000.00 was made during the Windhoek Congress and AGM that was held during September 2008. The Executive Committee has implemented a couple of changes to the budgeting for future Congresses, and hopefully in future we will always be able to cover the cost for the congresses with the registration fees raised.
Website:
The NDA website has changed and improved tremendously over the last year. It is a very powerful tool that can be used to keep our members informed, and hopefully in future in touch as well. It is widely used for marketing, promotion, information dissemination, survey and more.
This is definitely the future means of communication and I hope that more and more of our members will start to appreciate this and use it to its fullest extent.
I applaud André Hanekom for all his time, effort and motivation in building and keeping our website as one of the best on the Web.
Marketing and Advertising:
As approved during the AGM of 2008, the Executive Committee embarked on a program to advertise and market Dentistry in Namibia. Various mediums including Radio, Television and the Printed Media were utilized. It is difficult to estimate the actual effect of this project on the population, and it takes time to see its effect. A survey amongst Dentists was done and will be presented later during the AGM.
Marketing and Advertising is something that needs to continue and constantly change to have the maximum impact on the general population. In time, our profession will definitely reap the benefits of this project.
The “Create a perfect smile” project that is currently under way through a well known radio station and Colgate is also a direct result of the marketing campaign and will be discussed in more detail during the AGM.
My thanks goes to Dr Martin Wucher who initiated and drives the advertising and marketing project with help from other members of the Executive Committee.
Dental Health Month:
During August 2009, the Dental Health month took place, and was a huge success. The focus this year was on the children and various projects were launched to bring the importance of proper dental care to their attention. The project was widely advertised and even televised as the main news item on NBC Television. Kagiso Moloi was the main driving force behind the project, and I sincerely thank him for his initiative and vigour for this project.
Social Responsibility:
Apart from the Dental Health Month, the committee also commenced to identify Dentists who are willing to do dental work on children from orphanages and aid organizations on a pro-deo basis.
An overwhelming response from Dentists was received, and we are currently in the process of identifying and allocating these under-privileged children to the various available practitioners. Derrell Louw is the driving force behind this project.
Meetings with Medical and Dental Council:
At the beginning of our term, we identified the problem of lack of communication between the Dental Association and Council. This was addressed by a requested meeting with them and has led to a bi-annual Forum meeting with the council, where all subjects of mutual concern can be discussed. This also creates an opportunity for Dentists to have an input into their own legislative issues, and eventually to receive any important and relevant information from the Council.
Dental Therapists:
One of the biggest topics of discussion with the council was the issue with the registration of Dental Therapists and their proposed scope of practice. We have requested, and it is in the process of happening, that the Dental Therapists would in the nearby future be registered under the Medical and Dental Council and not the Allied Health Professions Council, as is the case at this stage. We have also given our input as to the proposed scope of practice of therapists in Namibia.
Personnel Employment Contracts:
As proposed during the previous Annual General Meeting, a pro-forma employment contract was drawn up and forwarded to all our members. This contract can act as a framework for yourself or your practice managers, and is also available on the NDA website. I once again wish to remind members that they are compelled by law to have properly completed and signed employment contracts with all their personnel.
Dental Protection Limited Meeting:
During August 2009, a very successful and informative meeting and lecture was presented by Executives of the DPL based in London. As a result of that meeting and subsequent discussions, the NDA members will in future be able to obtain and keep their DPL indemnity cover through the South African Dental Association without having to be members of that Association.
I once again wish to accentuate the importance of indemnity cover for all practitioners. One claim of negligence can ruin your life, finances and practice. The Council is in the process to make membership of a proper professional indemnity cover a pre-requisite for registration as a Dentist in Namibia.
PSEMAS:
Unfortunately, in spite of numerous discussions, letters and telephone calls, I have to report that this issue has not progressed well. The only positive thing that has happened is that the Ministry of Finance has accepted the NDA proposed contract, but are waiting for their legal drafters to finalise the drafting of it before it can be sent for approval. Knowing the time or lack of it at which decisions are taken in the Government, nobody can predict the final date of implementation.
My suggestion is that all NDA members who are contracted in with PSEMAS get together, stand together, form a strong representative committee, and apply pressure through the setting of ultimatums to the Ministry of Finance. It will necessitate the total commitment as a group of contracted in practitioners to enforce those ultimatums and hopefully get a positive result.
Annual Congress:
The Executive Committee, after thorough investigation of the projected expenses to present the congress at Sossusvlei, unfortunately had to come to the conclusion that, financially, it had the potential to cause a huge financial loss to the Association. It was then decided to choose Swakopmund as our next option.
This year’s congress that was held in Swakopmund, proved to be highly successful once again. Unfortunately, unforeseen events always happen and caused the program to be altered at the last minute. The congress was attended by ± 55 Dentists, 6 Dental Technicians, 1 Dental Therapist, 35 Oral Hygienists and Dental Assistants and 42 Traders from 22 Companies, and hopefully enjoyed by all.
My sincere thanks goes to Birgit Gärtner who once again went out of her way to make it the huge success as it was.
Code of Conduct:
The highly appraised NDA Code of Conduct that was implemented and launched 2½ years ago needs to be dusted off and re-affirmed once again. The Executive Committee will make a proposal in this regard during this Annual General Meeting. I can further report that no major ethical complaints or requests were dealt with during the past year, and fortunately, the ethical committee of the Association were the most inactive sub-committee of the Association.
In conclusion to sum up, my three years as President of the NDA has been an exciting and invigorating one. I feel that during that time, one of my main objects – to create a better union between members of the Association, has definitely been reached.
I sincerely hope that the new incoming President and his Executive Committee will build on the goodwill and openness that has been created, and continue with the work that has been started.
I also sincerely hope that more of the new generation of Dentists in Namibia will become involved in the affairs of the Association to continue this legacy into the future.
I thank you.
Dr Chris de Chavonnes Vrugt
PRESIDENT – NDA
