(You can read this ICO Leader Letter online at www.icoph.org/news/leader0705.html.
For previous Leader Letters, go to: www.icoph.org/news/letters.html.)
First, on behalf of the International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) and ICOFoundation, I want to thank the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation for supporting the establishment of a Diabetic Eye Disease Center at the Peking University in Beijing (item #2 below). With coordinated educational and public outreach programs, we expect this center will be an excellent model for addressing a critical eye care need worldwide. Thanks also to His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz Al Saud and ICO Council Member Abdulaziz AlRajhi, MD, for leading a campaign to increase the focus of WHO and national governments on prevention of blindness, which led to positive action at the World Health Assembly earlier this month. Thanks to those ophthalmologic society leaders who contacted your Ministers of Health to request their support at the WHA, which made a significant difference. And thanks to Drs. Steve Ryan, Dennis Lam and all of those who are hard at work organizing an outstanding scientific program for the World Ophthalmology Congress in Hong Kong next summer. Finally, I want to express my personal appreciation to ICO Guidelines Director Rich Abbott, MD, Education Director Mark Tso, MD, and all of those who contribute to ICO programs and work to enhance ophthalmic education and improve access to eye care. - Bruce Spivey, MD, ICO President 2. New Diabetic Eye Disease Center in Beijing
The ICO and Peking University Eye Center launched the Peking University Eli Lilly Diabetic Eye Disease Center on March 20 in Beijing, China. The Diabetic Eye Disease Center is dedicated to decreasing avoidable visual impairment and blindness due to diabetes through early detection of diabetes, medical control and prevention measures. It will provide diabetic eye care to patients and help train local professionals, particularly in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy. The Eli Lilly and Company Foundation contributed $US 150,000 to the ICO Foundation for the establishment of a model diabetic eye disease center, in partnership with the ICO. The ICO selected the Peking University Eye Center to host the Center from among a number of candidates. There are an estimated 246 million adults with diabetes worldwide, and that number is projected to increase to 380 million by 2025. In China, 30 million people have diabetes, 12 percent of the world total. With the prevalence of vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy destined to increase, formation of the Peking University Eli Lilly Diabetic Eye Disease Center is a major breakthrough in establishing medically coordinated, accessible and sustainable eye care. For more information, see the news release on the launch of the Diabetic Eye Disease Center at www.icoph.org/pdf/PekingDiabetesEye.pdf. - Bradley R. Straatsma, MD, JD, ICO Foundation President 3. WHA Renews Support for Prevention of Blindness
The decision by the WHA, which was May 14 to 23 in Geneva, was a significant step forward in a two-year campaign to increase WHO focus on prevention of blindness and visual impairment, which has been led by Saudi Arabia, particularly thanks to the advocacy efforts of His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz Al Saud and ICO Council Member Abdulaziz AlRajhi, MD. As part of the campaign, ICO President Bruce Spivey, MD, wrote to society leaders early in May asking them to contact their ministers of health and other members of their delegations to the WHA and request their support for prevention of blindness at the Assembly. At the WHA, Saudi Arabia introduced amendments to add visual impairment to the title of Strategic Objective 3 of the proposed WHO Medium-Term Strategic Plan and to the budget. There was considerable support for these changes from other delegations, with little opposition. As a result of extensive advocacy efforts prior to the discussions, the suggested amendments were later adopted unanimously by the WHA. Thanks to all of you who contacted your ministers and delegations to the WHA. The WHA action sets the stage for ophthalmologic societies to work with their governments to increase support for prevention of blindness and eye care. Effective advocacy at the national level will be critical. The ICO will ask societies to contact their Ministers of Health regarding implementation of the WHO Medium-Term Strategic Plan in their countries and inclusion of prevention of blindness in Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) Plans that define how WHO and individual Ministers of Health will work together. - Hugh Taylor, MD, AC, ICO Director for Advocacy 4. Scientific Program Taking Shape for WOC 2008 
With the exceptional leadership of Scientific Program Committee Chair Stephen Ryan, MD, we are developing an outstanding program for the 2008 World Ophthalmology Congress®, which will be June 28 - July 2 in Hong Kong (www.woc2008hongkong.org). Prominent ophthalmologists from around the world have agreed to coordinate the development of symposia, courses and other programs in 32 subspecialty and related areas. The coordinators have named leading experts to serve as chairs for more than half of the 405 sessions we are planning, and we expect to have the rest of the chairs named within the next few weeks. We recently sent out the second issue of "WOC 2008 E-Xpress," our monthly e-mail newsletter, which lists the program coordinators and 39 ophthalmologic societies that have committed to participating in the Congress. You can read the WOC 2008 E-Xpress at www.woc2008hongkong.org/E-blast2/woc_eblast_May_17.html and sign up to receive future issues at: www.woc2008hongkong.org/subscribep.html. Anything that ophthalmologic societies can do to encourage your members to attend the WOC 2008 will be much appreciated. I look forward to welcoming you to Hong Kong in a little more than a year. - Dennis Lam, MD, President, World Ophthalmology Congress 2008 5. Revised ICO Clinical Guidelines
Many of the ICO's International Clinical Guidelines have been revised, and the new versions can be viewed on the ICO Web site or downloaded as PDF files from www.icoph.org/guide/guidelist.html. You can download the complete revised set of 19 Guidelines from www.icoph.org/pdf/ICOClinicalGuidelines.pdf. Most of the Guidelines are adapted from the American Academy of Ophthalmology's "Benchmarks of Care," which are derived from its Preferred Practice Patterns. Many of the Academy's Benchmarks have been updated, and we have modified the ICO Clinical Guidelines accordingly. The two most recent ICO Guidelines cover leprosy and trachoma. I would encourage you to attend the symposium on the development and use of clinical guidelines on May 31 at the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology Congress (www.apaocancun.org.mx) in Cancun or on June 12 at the European Society of Ophthalmology Congress in Vienna (www.soe2007.org). We are seeking feedback on how we can make these Guidelines more useful to practicing ophthalmologists and help ophthalmologic societies and training programs adapt them for use in your countries. You can contact me at guidelines@icoph.org. - Richard Abbott, MD, ICO Director for Guidelines 6. Curricula, Guidelines, Models for Subspecialty Training?
Are you aware of curricula or written guidelines/requirements/expectations for training in any of the subspecialties of ophthalmology, particularly that are international in scope? If so, please send me a copy at education@icoph.org. The ICO is establishing a new International Task Force on Ophthalmic Subspecialty Education. Among other responsibilities, the Task Force will be asked to work with subspecialty societies to define principles and guidelines for subspecialty training. In addition, one of the working groups of the new ICO Advisory Leadership Group for Sub-Saharan Africa is focusing on how to enhance training of subspecialists in the region. Participants in the ICO/MEACO World Ophthalmology Roundtable on Leadership Development (WORLD) in Dubai in March agreed that training of more subspecialists was critical, both to meet the needs of the public for tertiary care and to give residents critical exposure to the subspecialties. Led by Stephen Akafo, MD, of Ghana, the working group is evaluating options for training subspecialists in developing countries, where one- or two-year fellowships are rarely practical. Please let us know if you are aware of good models or examples of subspecialty training that are practical for developing countries. We are planning a symposium on subspecialty training on June 28, 2008 at the World Ophthalmology Congress® in Hong Kong. - Mark Tso, MD, ICO Director for Education 7. Next ICO and IFOS Meetings and World Ophthalmology Congress (WOC)
Other future ICO/IFOS Meetings: www.icoph.org/lead/icomeet.html. 8. Coming in the JUNE ICO Leader Letter: Online Resources for Medical Student Education 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. 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 [contact-Email]. 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/leader0705.html. For previous issues, go to www.icoph.org/news/letters.html. Copyright © 2007 International Council of Ophthalmology. All rights reserved.  International Council of OphthalmologyHome | News | About ICO/IFOS | ICOFoundation | Contact | Find |
