(For previous ICO Leader Letters, go to: www.icoph.org/news/letters.html.)
This Letter reports on the scientific program for next year's World Ophthalmology Congress® (WOC), June 28 - July 2 in Hong Kong, and news of future WOCs and the recent American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting. Since the ICO met last in March, our activities have multiplied to the point where there is not enough space in the Leader Letter to report more than a fraction of what we are doing. For an "eye-opener," I would encourage you to download and read a recent update on ICO programs and initiatives from: www.icoph.org/pdf/ICOUpdate.pdf. I am happy to answer any questions you have on ICO programs and would be interested in your comments. - Bruce Spivey, MD, ICO President 2. Outstanding Scientific Program for Hong Kong
Scheduled June 28 - July 2, WOC 2008 will offer an exceptional opportunity to learn about the latest advances in ophthalmology from around the world. Highlights of the invited scientific program include:
Overall, we expect at least 10,000 ophthalmologists to join us in Hong Kong. If you have not already done so, I would encourage you to register and reserve a hotel room soon at www.woc2008hongkong.org/register.html. If you are not already receiving WOC 2008 E-Xpress by e-mail (www.woc2008hongkong.org/woc_eblast_past.html), please subscribe at www.woc2008hongkong.org/subscribep.html. - Dennis Lam, MD, President, 2008 World Ophthalmology Congress and ICO Council Member 3. Please Inform Your Colleagues about WOC 2008
Specifically, please let your members and others know about two upcoming deadlines:
We would appreciate your including a link to the Congress on your Web site and ads and other notices in your newsletters and journals. You can download copies of the WOC 2008 logo, ads, a PowerPoint presentation and poster at www.woc2008hongkong.org/downloads.html. Please note: The International Federation of Ophthalmological Societies (IFOS) General Assembly will be the afternoon of June 27. The official Representative from each IFOS Member will receive free registration to the Congress. If you haven't already done so, please let me who your Representative will be by sending their name and e-mail address to me at jean.delaey@ugent.be. I will coordinate their registration with the Congress office. - Jean-Jacques De Laey, MD, ICO Secretary General 4. 2012 WOC Proposed for Dubai In 2004, the ICO agreed to hold the 2012 International Congress of Ophthalmology in conjunction with the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) meeting in Chicago in 2012. Since that time, the Congress has evolved into a much more substantial meeting, now called the World Ophthalmology Congress® (WOC), with an outstanding international scientific program, as described by Dennis Lam above. Recognizing that it would be impossible for the WOC to fit within the framework of the AAO Annual Meeting or for the Academy to fit within a WOC, the ICO Officers met with Academy leaders on several occasions this year. The Academy has graciously agreed to support the ICO's desire to hold the 2012 WOC in another location that does not compete with the Academy's Annual Meeting in Chicago. We have invited the Middle East African Council of Ophthalmology (MEACO) to host the 2012 WOC, and they have proposed a Congress in Dubai in February or March 2012. We are excited by that prospect: Dubai is an attractive venue with excellent facilities, and it would be the first WOC in the Middle East/Africa. We are working on defining an agreement with MEACO, and I hope to ask the Council for approval within the next month or two. I would like to express my personal appreciation to the American Academy leadership for their understanding and to MEACO for taking the initiative in hosting such an important event. - Bruce Spivey, MD, ICO President 5. Future WOCs in Berlin and Tokyo
Planning is well underway for the 2010 World Ophthalmology Congress®, which will be June 5 to 8 in Berlin, hosted by the German Ophthalmological Society (DOG). The 2014 World Congress will be in Tokyo at cherry blossom time, late March to early April. The ICO's Strategic Planning Committee (which includes its Officers) met in early November and will recommend to the Council that there be a rotation of WOCs in the future among four regions: the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Middle East/Africa. In the current rotation, Europe, the Middle East and Africa are combined in one region. The decision on the 2016 WOC will be made by the Council in 2010 in Berlin. The ICO is also talking with supranational societies about co-sponsoring Congresses with them in the odd years (2009, 2011, 2013) when there is no WOC. We will let you know more as plans are firmed up. - Yasuo Tano, MD, ICO Treasurer 6. American Academy Launches O.N.E. Network
At its Annual Meeting in November in New Orleans, the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) unveiled its new Ophthalmic News and Education (O.N.E.) Network, an outstanding online resource for ophthalmologists (one.aao.org). O.N.E. is now available to all AAO members at no cost, and the Academy is developing agreements with supranational and national societies to make it available to non-members. The AAO has asked the ICO to partner with it to make O.N.E. and other Academy educational programs available to ophthalmologists in developing countries starting in January 2009, and we will be happy to work with the Academy on that. At the same time, we will to continue to inform you of educational and informational resources made available by other ophthalmologic societies and organizations around the world. To that end, if you have educational programs, particularly those that are available at no cost online, that you believe would be of interest to others, please let us know at education@icoph.org. At its opening ceremonies, the Academy honored ICO President Bruce Spivey, MD, and Past President Fritz Naumann, MD, with its International Prevention of Blindness Award. The Academy also recognized two other ophthalmologists for their contributions at the international level: Alessandro Pezzola, MD, and Paul Steinkuller, MD, received the Academy Outstanding Humanitarian Service Award. - Akef El-Maghraby, MD, ICO Vice President 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 January ICO Leader Letter: More Resources for Community Eye Health 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/leader0712.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 |
