News of the ICO, Ophthalmology and Vision:

News from the 2005 Council meeting in Florence

Headlines:

• ICO will invite international subspecialty societies to join IFOS
  
  
• Council votes on Duke Elder, François and Gonin Medals and Pathology Award
  
  
• First report of Committee on Countries with Minimal Ophthalmic Presence
  
  
• ICO Standards Committee evaluating vision requirements for driving
  
  
• Council elects Dr. Spivey as ICO President, effective February 2006
  
  
• ICO proposes changes in Statues
  
  
• Council adopts revised Regulations
  
  
• Nations to report in 2006 on commitment to VISION 2020
  
  
• Opportunity for advocacy by ophthalmologic societies
  
  
• Alliance seeks funding to eliminate trachoma by 2020
  
  
• Follow-up on residency education in Nigeria

Also see:

• more news from the 2005 ICO meeting in Florence
• Other recent news.
• the latest ICO Leader Letter.

(The Eye Site is the Internet home for the International Federation of Ophthalmological Societies (IFOS) and its executive body, the International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO).)

ICO will invite primary international subspecialty societies to join IFOS

At its meeting May 11, 2006 in Florence, the International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) agreed to invite the leading international societies in each subspecialty of ophthalmology to apply for membership in the International Federation of Ophthalmological Societies (IFOS).

The Committee on Criteria for Specialty Society Membership, chaired by Emilio Campos, MD, met in Florence before the Council and recommended keeping the criteria for membership in IFOS flexible but asking and encouraging the societies that play the most significant role internationally in each subspecialty to join.

The Advisory Committee to the ICO, on which all subspecialties are represented, and Council, the executive body of IFOS, agreed with the recommendations of the Committee. Members of the Advisory Committee and Council will contact the leading societies but other subspecialty and related societies can also apply for membership in IFOS.

Societies that apply by December 1, 2005 will be eligible for approval by the Council in time to participate in the next IFOS General Assembly, February 21 at the World Ophthalmology Congress in São Paulo, Brazil.

Until recently, IFOS voting membership had been limited to the primary national ophthalmological society in each country. But IFOS voted in October 2004 to expand in recognition of the critical role that subspecialty societies play in ophthalmology.

"We believe that expansion of IFOS is critical to maintaining cohesiveness in ophthalmology throughout the world," said ICO President Fritz Naumann, MD. "We look forward to having more involvement of the subspecialty societies."

The meetings in Florence were hosted by the Italian Society of Ophthalmology (SOI), immediately prior to its 3rd International Congress.

Council Votes on Duke Elder, François and Gonin Medals and Pathology Award

At its meeting in Florence, the Council voted to award the three historic ICO medals as follows:

• Gonin Medal to Al Sommer, MD
• International Duke Elder Medal to Bradley R. Straatsma, MD, JD.
• Jules François Medal to Bruce Spivey, MD.

See the criteria and process defined for awarding each medal.

The Council also voted to present the new ICO Ophthalmic Pathology Award, which it approved in October 2004, to Thaddeus P. Dryja, MD, Director of the Cogan Eye Pathology Laboratory at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston. The award, which includes $US 50,000, will be made every four years.

Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis (AOI) also met in Florence and voted to award its premier medal, the Bernardo Streiff Medal, to ICO President Fritz Naumann, MD.

The four medals and the pathology award will be presented at the opening ceremonies of the World Ophthalmology Congress, February 20, 2006 in São Paulo, Brazil.

First report of Committee on Countries with Minimal Ophthalmic Presence

Establishing an eye care system in countries that have few or no ophthalmologists is a huge and long-term challenge, but one that international ophthalmology should take on, Jacob Pe’er, MD, proposed to the Advisory Committee and Council in Florence.

In the first report of the recently formed Committee on Countries with Minimal Ophthalmic Presence, Dr. Pe’er suggested that the first steps are to identify those countries where the need is greatest, contact them and evaluate their needs.

He outlined one possible approach: to train one ophthalmologist, eye care team members and support staff, who could establish an ophthalmology department that would train others. He stressed the importance of emphasizing community ophthalmology in the training and education of medical students about eye care.

The Committee will report back at the next Council meeting in February 2006.

Co-chairs of the Committee are Hannah Faal, MD, (The Gambia) and Daud Khan, MD, (Pakistan). Other members include: Moses Chirambo, MD, (Malawi); Anthony Murray, MD (South Africa); "Para" Pararajasegaram, FRCS, FRCP, FRCOphth (Geneva); Ravi Thomas, MD, (India) and Bo Wiafe, MD, (Zambia).

ICO Standards Committee evaluating vision requirements for driving

The Council discussed a report on "Visual Requirements and Safe Driving" prepared by ICO Committee on Standards Chairman Jean-Jacques DeLaey, MD, and Standards Committee Member August Colenbrander, MD.

Recognizing the profound impact that vision requirements have on individuals and countries, the report reviews:

• current visual requirements for obtaining a driver’s license in different countries
• the literature on the relationship between vision and driving safety, and
• ways to assess different visual functions that relate to driving ability.

It concludes that, for public safety, there is a need to make driving requirements more uniform.

The draft report suggests that individuals with visual acuity of 20/40 (0.5) or better should qualify to drive if there are no other limiting factors and that those with 20/200 (<0.1) or worse acuity should not be allowed to drive. For those in between, it recommends individual consideration, with the possibility of restricted licenses.

The report also suggests that a compromise may have to be found between ideal testing and economic feasibility.

The draft report on "Visual Requirements and Safe Driving" has been posted on the ICO Eye Site, and comments are requested from IFOS members and others. The Committee plans to submit a final report for approval by the Council when it meets next in February 2006 in São Paulo.

Council elects Dr. Spivey as ICO President, effective February 2006

The Council voted by secret ballot to elect current ICO Secretary General Bruce Spivey, MD, to be the next President of the Council effective at the end of the World Ophthalmology Congress in February 2006 in Brazil.

"This continuity is critical to the future of IFOS and the ICO and our work in ophthalmic education and the preservation of vision," said current ICO President Fritz Naumann, MD.

The Presidency has traditionally rotated from Asia/Oceana to Europe/Africa to North/South America, and this election continues that rotation.

The terms of the four current officers and all members of the Council expire at the World Congress in February 2006 in Brazil, and a new slate of officers and other members of the Council will be approved in São Paulo.

Guidelines adopted in 2004 call for the Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary General to be selected, if at all possible, from different supranational regions than the President and each other.

ICO proposes changes in IFOS Statues

In Florence, the Council voted to recommend changes in the IFOS Statutes for consideration at the General Assembly on February 21 in São Paulo.

One change is to specify that Officers and Members of the Council serve four-year terms that conclude at every other Congress. Another reflects the decision made in 2004 to call the Congress the "World Ophthalmology Congress."

Since the Congresses are now every two years, the presidents of the next two Congresses will sit on the Council.

Council adopts revised Regulations

Also in Florence, the Council adopted changes in the Regulations of the Council, International Congress of Ophthalmology and Awards.

The Regulations for the Awards add the ICO Ophthalmic Pathology Award, Bietti Medal and Tadeusz Krwawicz Gold Medal approved by the Council in October 2004. No more than five medals will be presented at the opening ceremonies of a World Congress.

The revised Regulations of the Council also clarify the requirements for a quorum and passing of resolutions by the Council. In the future, proposed changes in regulations will need to be distributed to the Council two months before their meeting, instead of three months, which was previously required.

Nations to report in 2006 on their commitment to VISION 2020

Countries that belong to the World Health Organization (WHO) are due to report by May 2006 on their national plans in support of VISION 2020: The Right to Sight, Nag Rao, MD, President of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), reported to the Council in Florence.

In May 2003, the World Health Assembly in Geneva adopted a resolution urging all WHO member states to set up national plans regarding the elimination of avoidable blindness by the year 2020, to establish a national coordinating committee for VISION 2020, and to start implementation of the action plan by 2007, at the latest.

Dr. Rao reported that India has committed $25 million per year for the next five years to prevention of blindness.

Opportunity for advocacy by ophthalmologic societies

Advisory Committee Member Serge Resnikoff, MD, PhD, who heads the WHO's Prevention of Blindness and Deafness efforts, said the World Health Assembly resolution provides an opportunity for advocacy by national ophthalmologic societies and involvement in definition of national plans.

The VISION 2020 program offers suggestions on how to work within your country.

WHO consultant ophthalmologist "Para" Pararajasegaram, FRCS, FRCP, FRCOphth, suggested that national societies may also want to organize a "Healthy Vision Month," as is done the United States.

Alliance seeks funding to eliminate trachoma by 2020

Drs. Rao and Resnikoff also reported to the Council that the Alliance for the Global Elimination of Blinding Trachoma by 2020 (GET 2020) is seeking funding for national programs to eliminate trachoma.

The Alliance is a partnership between WHO, national governments, non-governmental development organizations (NGOs), foundations and industry.

Follow-up on residency education in Nigeria

Council Member Adenike Abiose, MD, reported to the Council on efforts to enhance residency training in Nigeria stimulated by the visit of ICO members to Nigeria in spring of 2004. The Council members toured residency programs and met with the leaders of the Ophthalmological Society of Nigeria (OSN) and the Nigerian Minister of Health.

With financial support from the ICO and ICOFoundation, Council Member and WHO Medical Officer Daniel Etya'alé, MD, has purchased the equipment and services needed to establish six residency resource centers in Nigeria.

The OSN has taken responsibility for raising the first year's operating costs of $500 per month per center.

Next: More News from the ICO meetings in Florence

Also see:

• Other recent news.
• the latest ICO Leader Letter.