Amar Latif will deliver the keynote speech on the first day of BSAVA Congress.

Amar, who is blind, will deliver a keynote on overcoming challenges.

TV presenter Amar Latif has been announced as a keynote speaker for the 2022 BSAVA Congress.

Amar, who was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa when he was a child, will be speaking on the first day of the event, sharing his passion for travel and adventure. 

At the age of 18, Amar had lost 95 per cent of his eyesight, but this was no barrier to him embarking on a course in Canada to complete his mathematics and statistics degree.

Having caught the travel bug, Amar wanted to continue his adventures but was disappointed to find that no travel firm would accommodate an independent, blind or partially-sighted person.

Taking matters into his own hands, Amar launched the specialist commercial tour operator, Traveleyes, to make the world more accessible to visually-impaired and blind people. He has since worked on numerous television programmes with the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4 as a presenter and director.

Amar said: “I’ve been told I ‘can’t’ throughout my life, but limitations are usually in our heads. Recognising that, and making decisions for what we want not what we think we can do, is very powerful and can propel us to do the seemingly unachievable.

“I’m really excited to be presenting the keynote at Manchester Central. The veterinary profession has faced some incredibly difficult challenges with the pandemic. I understand some of that frustration and hope I can bring a little inspiration to see the world from a unique point of view.”

Amar will be joined by experts in the fields of cardiology, feline medicine and anaesthesia at BSAVA Congress on 24 March. The programme also includes the first ‘Day in the life of…’, an experiential case study of anaesthesia dramas set in a general practice. 

Andy Green, a member of the BSAVA Congress programme committee, said: "We really wanted a speaker whose story was genuinely uplifting and inspirational, and who came from outside the veterinary/medical/sporting worlds to give a different perspective on challenge and creating opportunities out of setbacks.

“Amar is a very warm and engaging speaker, and his story speaks to everyone regardless of background, job title or personal circumstance. We want delegates to leave with a sense of hope, of optimism and renewed appreciation for the things in their lives that really matter."