IFOS Notes:
What Do Ophthalmologists and Societies Need?
What are the global needs of the public for eye care, and how will those needs change in future decades?
What do ophthalmologists around the world need to help them provide the best possible care to their patients and assure the eye health of their communities?
What do members of the International Federation of Ophthalmological Societies (IFOS) and other ophthalmologic societies need to support their members and contribute in a meaningful way to prevention of blindness and preservation and restoration of vision?
These are critical questions that the International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) must answer if we are to be successful in the future as the executive body of IFOS.
In this issue of IFOS Notes, I report on the progress of ICO strategic planning and ask you to respond to two additional questions. Again, I urge you to respond in the ICO/IFOS “Forum on the Future” at www.icoph.org/plan.
There are also reminders to contact your minister of health about WHO Resolution EB117.R4 and send us your comments on new draft curricula and guidelines for ophthalmic education.
We look forward to hearing from you.
1. Excellent Participation in the “Forum on the Future”
Thanks to all of you who responded to the three questions in my last letter (www.icoph.org/news/ifos0604.html), either in the ICO/IFOS “Forum on the Future” or by e-mail.
If you visit the Forum at www.icoph.org/plan, you will see we have had great participation, with more than 60 comments submitted so far in response to the first three questions, on trends and strengths and weaknesses.
The answers are extremely helpful. This is exactly the kind of responses we are seeking. You can still answer the first three questions if you have not done so already.
All of your comments will be shared with participants in the small strategic planning session that we have scheduled at the beginning of July in Zurich.
2. Needs of the Public for Eye Care
Obviously, part of the mission for the ICO/IFOS and international ophthalmology is to help meet the needs of people around the world for eye care.
Fortunately, public needs have been well researched and documented by the WHO and VISION 2020: The Right for Sight. If you haven’t already read it, I encourage you to download the VISION 2020 report on the “State of the World’s Sight” from www.v2020.org/world_sight_day/documents/MainReport_Inside.pdf (1.3 MB).
Or, you can read the Executive Summary at www.v2020.org/world_sight_day/documents/ExecutiveSummary.pdf (1 MB).
This report and other recent WHO research give us excellent data and perspective on the needs of the public for planning for the future of international ophthalmology and the ICO/IFOS.
3. Needs of Ophthalmologists and Societies
To continue the strategic planning process, it would be very helpful for us to have your responses to the following two questions:
What do you think will be the greatest needs of individual ophthalmologists in your country over the next five to 10 years (e.g., new knowledge and skills, access to technology or equipment, financial security)?
What are the greatest needs of your ophthalmologic society? What are the biggest obstacles to achieving your goals (e.g., lack of funding, lack of participation, difficulty communicating with members)?
At this point, we want to focus on understanding what the needs of ophthalmologists and societies are, not what the ICO/IFOS should do about them. We will ask about that in future questions.
To answer, please go to the ICO/IFOS “Forum on the Future” at www.icoph.org/plan. You will find these two questions toward the top of the page. Under each question, click on the link for "comments” and type your answer in the box that's provided. Then select "Other" and type in your name, and then click "Publish Your Comment."
You don’t need to register or sign in. You can select “Anonymous” if you prefer, but we would rather know who is submitting the comments.
If for some reason you can't access the Forum or contribute there, you are welcome to respond by replying to this e-mail. We will add your comments to the Forum. But it would be much better to respond at www.icoph.org/plan.
4. Please Act To Increase Support for Prevention of Blindness
The World Health Assembly (WHA) is just a few weeks away: May 22 to 27 in Geneva.
If you haven’t already done so, please contact your national minister of health and other delegates to the WHA and ask them to support adoption of WHO Resolution EB117.R4.
The resolution calls for increasing support for prevention of blindness and visual loss around the world.
At www.icoph.org/wha, you can download:
- a sample letter to ministers of health that can be adapted and translated
- the resolution
- a slide show designed for ministers
- other documents that make a strong case for increasing support for prevention of blindness.
Your action now can make a real difference in the resources that are allocated to prevention of blindness and eye care, both now and in the future.
5. Comments Requested on Curricula
A reminder that we would like to receive comments as soon as possible on two new sets of curricula and guidelines for ophthalmic education drafted by ICO international task forces:
Please send comments to ICO Education Director Mark Tso, MD, at mailto:education@icoph.org. After we have heard from you, we will revise and edit the curricula and guidelines for publication.
We also encourage you to consider how you might adapt these curricula for use in your countries or subspecialties.
Thank you in advance for your comments.
With warm regards,
Bruce Spivey, MD
ICO President
945 Green Street
San Francisco, CA, 94133, USA
(1-415) 409-8410
Fax: (1-415) 409-8403
mailto:spivey@icoph.org
http://www.icoph.org
International Council of Ophthalmology