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ICO Leader Letter

September 2010, Volume 7, Number 9

1. What Should Be the Priorities for International Ophthalmology?—Join Us October 16 in Chicago

Back in 1999 and 2000, the International Council of Ophthalmology and Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis engaged in a planning process that led to definition of "Vision for the Future: International Ophthalmology Strategic Plan To Preserve and Restore Vision."

Now, a decade later and at the mid-point of the VISION 2020 initiative, we would like to hear your views on what ophthalmology can and should do to help meet the public need for eye care and what our priorities should be for the next 10 years.

Please join us for this year’s World Ophthalmology Roundtable on Leadership Development (WORLD) Saturday, October 16 from 12:00 to 13:50 in the Pullman Room at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago.

Held at the Joint Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and the Middle East Africa Council of Ophthalmology (MEACO), this WORLD Roundtable on “Refocusing International Ophthalmology” will offer presentations and invite discussion on key topics for our future:

• What Responsibility Should Ophthalmology Take for Public Access to Eye Care?
  Bruce E. Spivey, MD, President, International Council of Ophthalmology  
• What Should International Ophthalmology’s Top Priorities Be for the Next 10 Years?
  Serge Resnikoff, MD, PhD, ICO Director for Advocacy and former Coordinator, Prevention of Blindness and Deafness, World Health Organization  
• A New Tool for Teaching and Assessing Surgical Skill
  Karl Golnik, MD, Chair, ICO Task Force on Education of Program Directors of Ophthalmic Residencies

The full agenda of the Roundtable is available at: www.icoph.org/downloads/WORLDChicago2010.pdf (PDF - 78 KB). Light refreshments will be available.

If you plan to be at the AAO/MEACO Joint Meeting, I hope you will join us. Please also stop by the ICO booth #1273 in the Exhibition Hall to say hello.

- Bruce Spivey, MD, ICO President

2. Education and International Ophthalmology at the 2010 AAO/MEACO Joint Meeting

In addition to the ICO WORLD Roundtable, there are quite a few other international and education sessions at the AAO/MEACO Joint Meeting next month. I list a few here that may interest you:

• Ophthalmology Residency Programs in the MEACO Region: Challenges and Prospects
        Saturday, October 16, 2010, 14:00 - 16:00, Room N128  
• Course: Strengthening Eye Care Infrastructure and Sustainability in Developing Countries
        Sunday, October 17, 2010, 14:00 - 15:00, Room N140, fee: $35.00  
• Comprehensive Eye Care: The Second Decade of VISION 2020
        Monday, October 18, 2010, 15:45 - 17:15, Room S102 ABC  
• International Forum: Can We Do Better? The Global Perspective on Eye Care in the United States and Volunteering Here and Abroad
        Monday, October 18, 2010 11:30 - 14:00, Room S101  
• Glaucoma: The Middle East and African Disparities and Challenges
        Monday, October 18, 2010 14:00 - 15:30, Room S102 ABC

For more information and location details, see the AAO/MEACO Joint Meeting online program: https://secure.aao.org/AMREG/Program/tabid/401/Default.aspx. 

– Mark Tso, MD, DSc, ICO Director for Education

3. New ICO Online Community, Web Site Features

You can now join an online community of ophthalmologists and more easily stay up-to-date on the latest in international ophthalmology and the prevention of visual loss at www.icoph.org.  

I hope you will take advantage of these new Web features and please let us know if you have any questions or suggestions. 

– Rubens Belfort, MD, ICO Director for Communications 

4. Flood Relief Efforts in Pakistan

It has been ten long weeks since the devastating monsoon rains and ensuing floods have ravaged Pakistan. Dr. Babar Qureshi, ICO Task Force for Uncorrected Refractive Error Chair, reports on the efforts of his Comprehensive Health and Education Forum (CHEF) International to help:

In the Frontier Province, we have passed the rescue phase but continue to provide relief. A comprehensive strategy will need to be developed for the reconstruction phase.

We have been deeply involved with the provision of medical and eye care and in five weeks have seen about 18,000 patients in one district, also have been involved in food distribution in the rescue phase and now in provision of safe water.  We hope to participate in the reconstruction phase by supporting the Pakistan government in development of some of its health and education services (with emphasis on comprehensive eye care and inclusive education for the visually impaired) in one of the districts in the Frontier Province most affected by the flooding.

We also continue to operate eye camps in other provinces where floods have continued to cause destruction by providing eye care treatments and referring patients to the nearest eye departments for surgical intervention when needed.

If you would like to contribute to Dr. Qureshi’s efforts, please contact him via e-mail at mbqureshi1@gmail.com or visit the CHEF International Web site: http://www.chef.org.pk.

– Akef El-Maghraby, ICO Vice President

5. APAO Celebrates 50 Years, See You in Sydney Next March

The 25th APAO Congress, a joint meeting of the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology (APAO) and the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), and hosted by the Chinese Ophthalmological Society (COS), was held in Beijing, China, September 16-20, 2010.

We celebrated the 50th “Golden Jubilee” anniversary of the APAO with 7,000 attendees, 398 scientific sessions with over 870 international and Chinese speakers delivering more than 1900 presentations in 18 subspecialties. The APAO also announced the development of a peer-review journal, targeted for a January 2011 launch, and kicked off the second year of its Leadership Development Program.

The next APAO meeting will be in Sydney, Australia, March 20-24, 2011, which is co-sponsored and supported by the ICO and hosted by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO). Registration is now open at http://www.apaosydney2011.com/Registration.htm, and abstract submission is open until October 22 at: http://www.apaosydney2011.com/Abstract.htm.

In addition to Sydney in 2011, future APAO congresses will be held in Busan, Korea, in 2012, New Delhi, India in 2013 and Tokyo, Japan in 2014 as part of the 2014 World Ophthalmology Congress (WOC) that year.

– Frank Martin, MD, APAO President

6. International Awards at APAO Beijing

Please join me in congratulating our colleagues who received the following Medals and Awards at the recent 25th APAO Congress in Beijing:

• ICO Golden Apple Award for the Best Clinical Teacher in Ophthalmology in the Asia-Pacific Region:
        Ian Constable, AO, Australia 
  (His award presentation: www.icoph.org/downloads/EvolutionofTeachinginOphthalmology.ppt. [PPT – 94 KB])
• Jose Rizal Medal to outstanding ophthalmologists in the Asia-Pacific Region:
        Gullapalli Nag Rao, MD, India  
• Jose Rizal International Medal to outstanding ophthalmologists from outside the Asia-Pacific Region who have made contributions within the region:
        Richard Abbott, MD, United States  
• De Ocampo Lecture for outstanding academic achievement:
         Tien Yin Wong, MBBS, PhD, Singapore

Congratulations to all of the awardees.

– Hugh Taylor, AC, MD, ICO Treasurer

7. Next ICO Meetings and World Ophthalmology Congress (WOC)

• ICO Board of Trustees: March 17 - 18, 2011, Sydney, Australia
• ICO General Assembly: February 16, 2012, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
• World Ophthalmology Congress®: February 16 – 20, 2012, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: http://www.woc2012.org.

Upcoming ICO Meetings and World Ophthalmology Congresses

Conference for Ophthalmic Educators, Busan, Korea, April 12:
New Techniques to Enhance Teaching and Learning

• Register online to attend: icoph.org/rsvp/Busan

World Ophthalmology Congress Meetings

• WOC2014: Tokyo, Japan, April 2-6, 2014, www.woc2014.org
• WOC2016: Guadalajara, Mexico, February 5–9, 2016
• WOC2018: Barcelona, Spain (provisional selection, dates to be announced)

More News

For more news of the ICO and international ophthalmology and resources for ophthalmologic leaders, see the ICO Web site at www.icoph.org.

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 ophthalmologic leaders? Please let us know at leader@icoph.org.

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