(For previous Leader Letters, go to: www.icoph.org/news/letters.html.)
The beauty of Florence was matched by the hospitality and graciousness of our hosts. As reported below and in more detail at www.icoph.org, the Council took significant action on a number of issues and heard updates on important initiatives in ophthalmic education and preservation of vision. We are grateful also to all the members of the Council and Advisory Committee for your valuable contributions, including paying your own travel expenses to participate in these ICO meetings. - Fritz Naumann, MD, ICO President 2. Council Will Invite Primary International Subspecialty Societies To Join 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 the Council, which is the executive body of IFOS, agreed with the recommendations of the Committee. Members of the Council and Advisory Committee and will contact the leading societies this summer, but other subspecialty and related societies can also apply for membership in IFOS. Societies that apply by December 1 will be eligible for approval by the Council in time to participate in the next IFOS General Assembly, February 20 at the World Ophthalmology Congress in São Paulo, Brazil. - Bruce Spivey, MD, ICO Secretary General 3. ICO Votes on Duke Elder, François and Gonin Medals and Pathology Award At its meeting in Florence, the Council voted by secret ballot to award the three historic ICO medals as follows:
To review the criteria and process for awarding each medal, see www.icoph.org/ic/regsaward.html. 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. 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 ophthalmic pathology award will be presented at the opening ceremonies of the World Ophthalmology Congress, February 20, 2006 in São Paulo, Brazil. - Fritz Naumann, MD, ICO President 4. First Report 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, I proposed to the Advisory Committee and Council in Florence on behalf of the recently formed ICO Committee on Countries with Minimal Ophthalmic Presence. In the first report of the Committee, we suggested that the initial steps should be to identify those countries where the need is greatest, to contact them and to evaluate their needs. I outlined on one possible approach that has been used successfully in Butare, Rwanda: to train one ophthalmologist, eye care team members and support staff, who then establish an ophthalmology department that trains others. The Advisory Committee and Council, including representatives of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Society for the Prevention of Blindness (IABP), provided very helpful feedback. Our Committee will report back at the next Council meeting in February. - Jacob Pe'er, MD, Chair, Committee on Countries with Minimal Ophthalmic Presence 5. Upcoming Deadlines for World Ophthalmology Congress in Brazil
We expect more than 1500 speakers to participate in the scientific program and hope that will include ophthalmologists from every country (see #6 below). Stephen Ryan, MD, chairs the Scientific Program Committee, and Cristina Muccioli, MD, is co-chair. There will be "Subspecialty Days" devoted to cataract, glaucoma, retina and refractive surgery and a first-ever World Forum of Non-Profit Organizations involved with ophthalmology and prevention of blindness (see http://www.ophthalmology2006.com.br/ong.php). For more, visit the Congress Web site at www.ophthalmology2006.com.br or send e-mail to: info@ophthalmology2006.com.br. - Rubens Belfort, MD, President of the XXX Congress and ICO Council Member 6. July deadline for National Societies to Select Best Free Papers
The deadline for national ophthalmological societies to select the best free papers submitted to the World Ophthalmology Congress from their countries has been extended to July 30, 2005. The Congress, February 19 - 24, 2006 in São Paulo, will provide free registration to the first author of the best free paper on ophthalmology and the best free paper on prevention of blindness from each country (one author in each category), as determined by the national ophthalmologic society. We ask national societies to inform your members of the Best National Free Paper offer as soon as possible and encourage members to submit abstracts to you for consideration before the end of July. You then need to inform me (manishad1@sancharnet.in) of the first authors of the best papers in each category by July 30. And the authors then must submit their abstracts to the Congress by August 30. I will arrange for the free registration. For details, see http://www.ophthalmology2006.com.br/best.php. We look forward to hearing the best free papers from every country in São Paulo. - Pran Nagpal, MD, Best National Free Paper Committee Coordinator 7. Next ICO and IFOS Meetings
Other Future ICO/IFOS Meetings: www.icoph.org/lead/icomeet.html. 8. Coming in the July ICO Leader Letter: Draft report on "Visual Requirements and Safe Driving" 9. More News For more news of the ICO and international ophthalmology and resources for ophthalmologic leaders, see the ICO's Eye Site at www.icoph.org. 10. Request for Other News and Resources Do you have other news of international ophthalmology or know resources (particularly on the Web) that would be valuable to society leaders? Please let us know at leader@icoph.org. 11. Forward the ICO Leader Letter to your Colleagues: If there are other ophthalmologic leaders you think might be interested in seeing this ICO Leader Letter, please forward this issue to them by clicking on this link. 12. Comments, Change of Address, Privacy Policy, Subscribe and Unsubscribe Send comments and suggestions for the Leader Letter to leader@icoph.org. You are subscribed as recipient@youraddress.com. Change your address by sending e-mail to: leader@icoph.org. We do not share e-mail addresses with anyone else. Check our privacy policy at: www.icoph.org/ic/privacy.html. To subscribe to the Leader Letter, visit www.icoph.org/news/subscribe.html. To unsubscribe, reply to this e-mail and type “unsubscribe” (without the quotes) as the subject, click on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of this page, or send an e-mail to leader@icoph.org. You can read this ICO Leader Letter online at www.icoph.org/news/leader0506.html. For previous issues, go to www.icoph.org/news/letters.html. Copyright © 2005 International Council of Ophthalmology. All rights reserved. |
