Home | News | About ICO | ICOFoundation | Contact

ICO Notes
How Many Ophthalmologists in Your Country?

March 2010

Dear ICO Members and Friends,

A few quick reports:

Please Help Us Estimate the Number of Ophthalmologists

Last year, the World Health Assembly endorsed the World Health Organization's Action Plan for the Prevention of Blindness and Visual Impairment. To support implementation of the Action Plan, the ICO is working to obtain the best possible data on the number of ophthalmologists in practice and in training in each country.

We would deeply appreciate your help to obtain this data so that we can all advocate effectively for improving eye care.

Last week, ICO Director for Advocacy, Serge Resnikoff, MD, PhD, sent a questionnaire to national ophthalmologic society presidents (and individuals in countries without societies) asking them to estimate the numbers of practicing ophthalmologists and trainees.

Please be sure your society responds to this survey by April 10. If your society did not receive it, please reply to this e-mail (leader@icoph.org) and we will send one to you.

Join Us for the ICO General Assembly June 5 at 14:00 in Berlin

Please mark your calendar for the ICO General Assembly, Saturday, June 5 from 14:00 to 17:00 at the 2010 World Ophthalmology Congress (WOC) in Berlin.

The General Assembly is mainly for the official Representatives from each ICO member society, but we would like to invite other leaders of ICO members and potential members to join us.

We are planning a stimulating discussion of strategic priorities for improving eye care and will ask for your feedback on what ICO programs are most valuable and what we should be doing in the future.

ICO Representatives will vote on proposed revised statutes and elect members of the Board. We will be sending a complete agenda and more details to ICO Representatives early next month.

Luncheon Meeting of Advocates on June 5 at WOC 2010

As you may know, the ICO Advocacy Committee has asked each national ophthalmologic society to name one member as its official "Advocate" to work with the ICO on global initiatives to increase support for eye care.

There will be a luncheon meeting of Advocates from 12:00 to 13:30 on Saturday, June 5, 2010 at the World Ophthalmology Congress in Berlin.

Serge Resnikoff, MD, PhD, ICO Director for Advocacy, will talk about what advocacy means, the role of Advocates and how they can contribute to VISION 2020. We will also highlight an advocacy case study: how VISION 2020 Australia convinced the Australian government to allocate AUD $45 million to support eye care programs in the Asia Pacific region.

If your society has not yet done so, you may still name an Advocate to work with the ICO. Please send the name and e-mail address of your Advocate to advocacy@icoph.org by April 15.

Share Your Photographs of Ophthalmology in Action

Last fall, we asked for your input on the ICO's future use of information technology, including a new Web site, to help us better serve our members and raise the level of eye care around the world. As a critical part of that process, we reconsidered the "identity" of our organization and how we can best present the ICO.

We will be unveiling our new logo and launching a new Web site before the WOC in Berlin.

I'd like to ask you to share your photographs of ophthalmology in action with us to be included on the new ICO Web site.

Specifically, we are looking for high quality images that show ophthalmologists involved in eye care, ophthalmic education and leadership activities. Please send your best photographs (clear, high quality jpg files) for consideration to leader@icoph.org. Be sure to include your name, image description and any other important details.

We look forward to seeing you at the meetings at WOC 2010 in Berlin and learning more about you through your photos.

With warm regards,

Bruce

Bruce Spivey, MD, MS, MEd
President, International Council of Ophthalmology

945 Green Street
San Francisco, CA, 94133, USA
Fax: (1-415) 409-8403
spivey@icoph.org
www.icoph.org