2nd Digital Marketing Summit in Khartoum

It was only when I participated in the recently held 2^nd Digital Marketing Summit 2017, I got to know that Sudan was awarded the First Prize at the ITU Telecom World Awards 2016 for the Most Promising Innovative Solutions with Social Impact. 23000 POS and Mobiles have been used for collection in highways used through a mobile and a printer with Bluetooth without internet connectivity. Eng. Mohamed Abd Elrahim Yassin General Manager of National Information Center and Elwaleed  Bashir of Nile Center received trophies for their achievement from the Minister of Communication and Information Technology Tahani Abdallah Atia. This event was organized by Saif Lutfi of Lutfi Self Development Centre.

The 2^nd Digital Marketing Summit held at Corinthia Hotel on 16-17 April had a galaxy of International Experts in Digital Marketing from Canada, Belgium, United Kingdom, Lebanon, South Africa, UAE, India and Kenya.

Kaveer Behare from South Africa who had also visited in the 1^st Summit last year, presented his study of Global Perspective on Sudan. The global perspective about Sudan is positive but more resources must be spent in drawing a line between South Sudan and Sudan. People should talk more about Trade and Tourism in Sudan to get the world excited.

Internet penetration in Sudan is 27% as compared to 29% in Africa, 33% in South Africa and 80-90% in Europe & USA.  Mobile penetration is higher at 72% and 35% of the population in Sudan have mobiles. 7-8% use social media in mobiles. 3 out of 7 billion people in this world use smart phones. This data was shared by Suren Govender Former MD of Accenture.

Eng. Christian Farioli who is an Italian working out of Dubai showed us in his presentation that in the last 83 seconds there have been 960646 mobile views of You Tube; 91263 photos uploaded in Instagram; 9606482 ‘Likes’ in Facebook; $11263 revenue from You Tube; $394765 made from sales of iPhones; 57638889 messages on Facebook and WhatsApp and 24016 profiles viewed on LinkedIn. Digital Marketing is the process of building and maintaining customer relationship through online activities to facilitate the exchange of ideas, products and services that satisfy the goals of both parties.

Farioli’s definition of Digital Marketing is ‘Getting Customers using only Computer and Internet’ and predicts the rise of Chief Digital Officer – soon CDO will become part of the board. CEO sets the direction, CFO provides capital and realizes benefits, CMO is the voice of the customer, HR leads the cultural change and COO embeds the changes. According to Farioli the First successful social media example is of Barrack Obama in 2008 which raised $650 million and got elected President of United States of America. Thanks to massive digital marketing campaign.

Tom Vassos, Author of the book titled ‘Destination Innovation’ came from Toronto, Canada to share that we are in the middle of a global mobile social media revolution. Successful entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs are leveraging mobile social media marketing strategies to achieve business results. Mobile social media strategies are transforming marketing, commerce and entire business models.

Darine Sabbagh from Lebanon presented the tools to analyze and measure the Return on Effort (ROE) and Return on Investment (ROI) on social media. She also presented how to create content and build a

 

Enjoyed singing the song of yesteryear's 'Mere Sapno ki Rani'

Mycetoma the Flesh Eating Tropical Disease

Having spent more than two decades in Pharmaceutical industry in India, it is shameful that I was ignorant about Mycetoma. Although the prevalence is high in India, is it because Mycetoma is the Neglected Tropical Disease the reason why I did not hear about it? My last fourteen years of Pharmaceutical experience in Sudan has taught me many things, Mycetoma is one of them. Thanks to Prof. Ahmed Fahal.

Prof.Ahmed Fahal, a surgeon, is the Founding Director of Mycetoma Research Centre (MRC) at the Soba University Hospital under the University of Khartoum. MRC established in 1991 is a WHO Collaborative Centre that is recognized globally as a world leader and an authoritative advisor in Mycetoma management and research. It is one of its kind worldwide as a specialized centre to deal with the Mycetoma patients. Prof.Fahal et al has more than 90 published clinical studies in Mycetoma.

Monday is the day when hundreds of patients visit the centre. There are more than 6700 patients suffering from Mycetoma registered at the centre. Mycetoma commonly affects poor patients in rural areas of Sudan, mainly Mycetoma endemic areas in Sinnar. Gezira and White Nile States. At the centre, there are seven patients’ consultation rooms, minor theatre and patients’ waiting area. There are two well maintained and equipped laboratories: molecular & microbiology. The Clinical services are offered by a group of well- trained clinicians, pathologists, microbiologists, radiologists, nurses and social workers.

Mycetoma is a chronic, progressively destructive morbid inflammatory disease usually of the foot but any part of the body can be affected. Infection is most probably acquired by traumatic inoculation of certain fungi or ‎bacteria into the subcutaneous tissue. Many patients come for treatment at an advanced stage where amputation of the affected part is the only possible treatment.

Public awareness and patient education about Mycetoma is extremely essential for early diagnosis and treatment. The Vision of MRC is dedicated to continuous discovery and development of scientific knowledge and clinical skills applied to the care of Mycetoma patients. The Mission is to eradicate Mycetoma, which is a life-mutilating disease, through the advancement of medical care, research, education and disease prevention.