CAHOCON 2026 Announced as First ISQua Regional Conference for South Asia

The Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organizations (CAHO) has announced CAHOCON 2026, the 10th edition of its flagship annual conference, to be held from 10–12 April 2026 at the Chennai Trade Centre, Chennai. Marking a significant milestone for healthcare quality in the region, CAHOCON 2026 will host the first International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua) Regional Conference for South Asia, with ISQua serving as a Knowledge Partner.

Over the past decade, CAHOCON has evolved into one of India’s most influential platforms for advancing healthcare quality and patient safety, bringing together clinicians, hospital leaders, policymakers, quality professionals, and innovators. The 2026 edition represents a defining moment in this journey, reinforcing South Asia’s growing leadership role in global quality and safety conversations.

The theme for CAHOCON 2026, “Tech, Touch and Trust – The New Healthcare Code,” reflects the changing landscape of healthcare delivery. The conference will explore how digital transformation, human-centred care, and trust-based systems must work together to deliver safe, ethical, and high-quality healthcare.

Dr Vijay Agarwal, President, CAHO, said:

“Over the past five years, CAHO and ISQua have jointly delivered monthly webinars addressing diverse dimensions of patient safety, reflecting a strong and sustained partnership. The recognition of CAHOCON 2026 as ISQua’s South Asia Regional Conference marks a significant milestone for healthcare quality in the region. This collaboration brings global expertise and regional leadership together to accelerate learning, foster innovation, and advance patient safety in ways that are practical, inclusive, and impactful for South Asian healthcare systems.”

ISQua’s involvement underscores the global relevance of the conference and its commitment to supporting quality improvement across diverse health systems.

Dr Carsten Engel, CEO of ISQua, said:

“CAHO and ISQua have developed a strong partnership over the past five years. We are proud and pleased that this partnership has now led to ISQua becoming a knowledge partner for CAHOCON 2026 – the first ISQua Regional Conference for South Asia. We look forward to coming to Chennai, joining our Indian and regional friends and colleagues for a fruitful and exciting exchange of knowledge, ideas, and experience.”

CAHOCON 2026 will feature high-impact scientific sessions led by national and international experts, immersive panel discussions, pre-conference workshops hosted at leading hospitals across Tamil Nadu, innovation showcases, and the prestigious CAHO Awards, celebrating excellence in healthcare quality and patient safety.

As CAHOCON marks a decade of progress, the 2026 conference aims not only to reflect on achievements, but also to set the direction for the next era of healthcare transformation in India and across South Asia.

About CAHO
The Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organizations (CAHO) is a not-for-profit organisation representing healthcare institutions, diagnostic centres, and quality professionals across India. CAHO is dedicated to promoting patient safety, quality improvement, and a culture of safety through education, collaboration, and system-wide engagement. https://www.cahocon.com/

About ISQua
The International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua) is a global organisation committed to improving the quality and safety of healthcare worldwide through education, accreditation, research, and international collaboration. https://isqua.org/

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Nourhan Kawtharani

Nourhan, a quality and safety coordinator with eight years of experience in ambulatory healthcare in Lebanon, aims to deepen her understanding of the systemic and holistic approach to healthcare through this fellowship.

She aims to identify gaps and develop tailored interventions that address specific contexts rather than applying general solutions. Engaging with diverse professionals and perspectives during this educational journey will expand the application of these concepts across different cultural settings.

Nourhan emphasizes the importance of promoting a culture of continuous learning and improvement within healthcare institutions, considering it a vital leadership responsibility to integrate quality and safety initiatives into the organizational culture.

Nourhan's commitment to patient safety and quality management includes sourcing practical resources and transforming insights into actionable knowledge to drive continued progress in healthcare practices and outcomes.

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Elom Otchi

Elom is passionate about improving quality of care and patient safety outcomes.

In view of this, he has had the opportunity to work in various capacities with various organisations including AfIHQSA, WHO, UNICEF and others undertaking research, supporting the development of national quality policies and strategies, facilitating the establishment of quality governance systems across all the levels of the health sector and building capacity of national and sub-national quality leads/teams to institutionalize the practice of quality and patient safety across the continent.

He has also worked extensively across all levels of care in the health sector of Ghana, including leading the Quality & Patient Safety program in its largest teaching hospital.

I would like to use this Fellowship as a learning platform and an opportunity to acquire the requisite knowledge, skills and competencies to complement ongoing efforts by like-minded individuals and organizations to continuously advance improve the quality and patient safety in Ghana and the continent.

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Stephen Taiye Balogun

Stephen is a Senior Programme Officer at the Institute of Human Virology in Nigeria as well as Country Representative for Health Information for All (HIFA).

Stephen plans to use this opportunity to maximise his impact by championing the cause of patient safety and quality in Nigeria and across Africa.

Stephen says "Quality and safety is a major wheel through which universal healthcare coverage can be achieved. The goal is to be a bridge in the gap between the International Quality Improvement and Patient Safety community and my country to ensure rapid spread, adoption, implementation and practice."

We are looking forward to working with both Stephen and our 2020 winner Rhoda Kalondu over the next year.

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Dr Rhoda Kalondu

Rhoda is the Head of the Patient Safety Unit at Kenyatta Hospital in Nairobi and wants to use this Fellowship to learn how to establish a culture of safety and develop systems for assessment and analysis at her institution, and more widely. As well as this, Rhoda intends to develop and execute an intervention to improve patient safety in Kenyatta National Hospital.

It is one thing to institute measures and processes for improvement, but quite another to change the culture of an environment. Rhoda's ambition to lead others in this change inspired the panel.

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Dr Subhrojyoti Bhowmick

I am an MBBS graduate from Calcutta University with a Gold Medal in Gynecology & Obstetrics.

I have completed M.D in Pharmacology from IPGME& R, Kolkata and have over 12 years of experience in the field of Clinical Research, Pharmacovigilance and Medication management in Hospitals.

I have completed certification in Clinical Research Administration & Project Management from Stanford University, USA and in Patient Safety from Johns Hopkins University, USA.

I am an Assessor for National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Health care providers (NABH), India assessing hospitals for medication safety and clinical quality standards and NABH Assessor for Ethics Committee Accreditation program in India as well.

I serve as the Chairperson, Institutional Ethics Committee of Health Point Hospital, Kolkata and am associated with 2 other Hospital ethics committees as a member.

I finished my Fellowship in Healthcare Quality from the International Society of Quality in Healthcare (ISQua) from Ireland in 2017.

I have published several research articles and have also authored a chapter on “Regulations governing Clinical Trial” in the book “Fundamentals of Clinical Trial & Research”.

I am a peer reviewer for prestigious international journals like the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, CNS Drugs and Drug Safety case reports.

I am the recipient of the UK Seth Oration Award for Best Clinical Pharmacology paper by the Indian Pharmacological Society in 2009 and the “Most promising Healthcare professional in Patient Safety in India” award by the Asian African Chamber of Commerce and Industry in October 2018.

Recently in April 2019, I received the Young Quality Achiever award by Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organizations (CAHO), India for 2019 for my work in the field of medication safety and clinical research.

I have a keen interest in teaching and am visiting adjunct faculty of Pharmacology at KMC, Mangalore, India and for Healthcare technology at MAKAUT, Kolkata, India.

I was associated with Stanford University School of Medicine, in the USA as a Senior Clinical Research Associate from 2015 to 2017 and have certification in Biostatistics, Evidence-based Medicine and Medical Writing from Stanford University.

Currently, I am working as the Clinical Director of Academics, Medical Quality and Clinical Research at Peerless Hospital and B K Roy Research Centre, Kolkata.

I am very happy and thrilled to receive the prestigious ISQua Lucian Leape Patient safety Fellowship Award for 2019 and I look forward to honing my skills further in the field of healthcare quality and patient safety through my experiences during this fellowship.

I sincerely believe that successful completion of this fellowship will help me evolve as a more confident Patient safety leader in India who in turn can provide significant inputs on policy changes through NABH for the Indian healthcare system.

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