News of the ICO, Ophthalmology and Vision:

News of 2006 ICO and IFOS Meetings and World Ophthalmology Congress in São Paulo

World Congress and ICO news headlines:

• ICO medals and awards at Congress opening ceremonies
  
  
• Academia, Pan-American and Brazilian awards
  
  
• New ICO Clinical Guidelines to be defined
  
  
• Societies encouraged to adapt ICO Guidelines
  
  
• American Academy defines "Clinically Relevant Curriculum"
  
  
• More than 1450 candidates for 2006 ICO Basic and Clinical Assessments
  
  
• 178 ophthalmologists have received IFOS/ICO Fellowships
  
  
• ICO Web site attracts visits and downloads
  
  
• ICO Publishes Directory of International Ophthalmology
  
  
• Research Committee advising on research to reduce visual impairment
  
  
• ICOFoundation supports ophthalmic education and Assessments
  
  
• Supranational Societies announce future Congress dates

(Also see:

• More News from the 2006 ICO and IFOS meetings in São Paulo
• Other Recent News
• the latest ICO Leader Letter)

ICO medals and awards at Congress opening ceremonies

At the opening ceremonies of the World Ophthalmology Congress in São Paulo on February 20, 2006, the International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) awarded the:

• Gonin Medal to Al Sommer, MD
• International Duke Elder Medal to Bradley R. Straatsma, MD, JD.
• Jules François Medal to Bruce E. Spivey, MD
• ICO Ophthalmic Pathology Award to Thaddeus P. Dryja, MD

See www.icoph.org/ic/regsaward.html for the criteria for selecting each medal and award.

The ICO voted during its meeting at the Congress that current members of the Council should not be eligible for the ICO medals and awards in the future.

Academia, Pan-American and Brazilian Awards

The following awards and medals were also presented during the opening ceremonies of the World Congress:

Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis:

• Bernardo Streiff Medal to ICO President Fritz Naumann, MD

Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology:

• A. Edward Maumenee Medal for Distinguished Services to Juan Verdaguer, MD
• Gradle Medal for Good Teaching to Miguel Burnier, MD
• Benjamin F. Boyd Humanitarian Award to Tim Sear

Brazilian Council of Ophthalmology:

• Medal to Professor Ruth Cardoso, PhD

New ICO Clinical Guidelines to be defined

 ICO Guidelines Director Richard L. Abbott, MD, reported to the Council that a new ICO International Clinical Guideline on traucoma is nearly completed, and others are being developed on oncherocerciasis and HIV.

There are now 19 Guidelines available on the ICO Web site at www.icoph.org/guidelist.html.

Societies encouraged to adapt ICO Guidelines

Dr. Abbott reported that the Chinese Ophthalmological Society (COS) introduced Clinical Practice Guidelines to Chinese ophthalmologists during the plenary session of the National Congress of Ophthalmology in September in Tianjin. The Guidelines were discussed in detail by COS members during educational sessions at the Congress and are now being disseminated to major hospital teaching centers and regional centers.

A mechanism is being developed to evaluate the impact of the practice guidelines on the quality of care for ophthalmology patients in China.

Under the leadership of Jialiang Zhao, MD, the clinical guidelines were defined at workshops in September 2004 and June 2005 based on translation of 10 of the ICO International Clinical Guidelines.

Gullapalli (Nag) Rao, MD, is organizing a similar guideline definition process in India, starting late in 2006, and other societies are encouraged to adapt the ICO Clinical Guidelines for use in their own countries, Dr. Abbott said.

The Guidelines Committee also welcomes submission of approved clinical guidelines from national and international societies for possible posting on the ICO Web site.

American Academy defines "Clinically Relevant Curriculum"

Dr. Abbott reported to the Advisory Committee to the ICO on a “Clinically Relevant Curriculum for Ophthalmologists” that has been developed over three years by the American Academy of Ophthalmology. The curriculum is divided into subspecialty and practice emphasis areas, with more than 800 topics.

The American Academy hosted a session at the Congress to present the curriculum and offer international societies and other groups an opportunity to partner with the AAO to customize material for educational use, understanding that modifications may be needed to adapt the material to different clinical and cultural settings.

For more information, see www.aao.org/news/release/20051220.cfm or contact Academy Vice President for Ophthalmic Practice Jane Aguirre at jaguirre@aao.org.

More than 1450 candidates for 2006 ICO Basic and Clinical Assessments

Peter Watson, FRCS, FRCOphth, ICO Assessments Director, reported to the Council that 1452 candidates have enrolled for the International Basic Science Assessment in Ophthalmology and Clinical Sciences Assessment in 2006. That brings the total number registered since the Assessments were started in 1995 to more than 12,000.

Turkey, Belgium and an increasing number of other countries are now using the ICO Assessments as part of their national certifying exams, Mr. Watson reported.

In 2005, nearly 1400 candidates sat for the Assessments at 83 test centers in 57 countries around the world. The Basic Assessment is offered in English, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish. The Clinical Sciences Assessment is available only in English.

The Assessments are offered early in April each year, and the deadline for application is January 31 of that year. For more, see www.icoph.org/assess.

178 ophthalmologists have received IFOS/ICO Fellowships

IFOS/ICO Fellowships have been awarded to 178 ophthalmologists from 53 countries since the program was started in 2001, Former Fellowship Director Balder Gloor, MD, reported to the Council and IFOS in February.

Fellowships are now available from more than 60 ophthalmology departments and other institutions in 27 countries.

The Fellowships were organized to help promising young ophthalmologists, especially those from developing nations, improve their practical skills and broaden their perspectives of ophthalmology.

Fellows are expected to bring the acquired knowledge and skills back to their country of origin and take part in programs to preserve and restore vision.

Fellowships are awarded twice a year, and April 30 and October 31 are the deadlines to apply. For more, see http://www.icoph.org/fellow.

ICO Web site attracts visits and downloads

ICO Secretary General and Communications Director Bruce Spivey, MD, reported to the Council on efforts to enhance communications between the ICO and IFOS, other ophthalmologic societies and leaders, including publication of the monthly e-mail ICO Leader Letter.

The ICO Web site (www.icoph.org) is the main vehicle for most ophthalmologists to have contact with the ICO, Dr. Spivey reported. He said that the site attracts more than 5000 visits per week, nearly 300,000 visits per year.

There are more than 1500 documents downloaded from the Web site each week, Dr. Spivey told the Council. The most popular downloads currently are the:

• Standards Committee report on “Vision Requirements for Driving Safety” (http://www.icoph.org/pdf/visionfordriving.pdf) and the
  
  
• ICO curriculum guidelines for residency training  (http://www.icoph.org/pdf/icoresidencyguide.pdf).

ICO Publishes Directory of International Ophthalmology

The ICO distributed the 2006 Directory of International Ophthalmology, which lists information on national and international societies and residency programs, to IFOS members at the General Assembly. The Council publishes the Directory once a year to support and enhance communications and interaction among ophthalmologic societies around the world.

The Directory is based on information in the ICO database, and Secretary General Bruce Spivey, MD, asked society leaders to keep their listing up-to-date, as described at http://www.icoph.org/soc/update.cfm.

Research Committee advising on research to reduce visual impairment

ICO Research Director Alfred Sommer, MD, reported to the Council in São Paulo that the Research Committee is continuing to monitor progress on ophthalmic research relevant to dealing with eye diseases and conditions in populations with limited resources.

The Committee is particularly looking at innovations in making effective treatments and prevention services accessible and affordable.

Dr. Sommer reported that the U.S. National Eye Institute is considering expanding its global research agenda, which could potentially lead to additional support for operational and epidemiologic research called for in the ICO's “Research Agenda for Global Blindness Prevention.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) has formally endorsed the Research Agenda.

ICOFoundation supports ophthalmic education and Assessments

 Bradley R. Straatsma, MD, JD, President of the International Council of Ophthalmology Foundation (ICOFoundation), reported to the Council that generous donations from individuals, foundations and corporations have allowed the ICOFoundation to make significant contributions to ophthalmic education.

Among the programs supported:

• Initiatives to enhance ophthalmology residency education, including the establishment of six residency education resource centers in Nigeria
• IFOS/ICO International Fellowships
• ICO Basic and Clinical Assessments.

The ICOFoundation works to advance ophthalmic education, quality eye care and scientific ophthalmology by raising funds to support ICO programs worldwide. For more on the ICOFoundation and how to contribute, see the ICOFoundation Web site or contact Dr. Straatsma at straatsma@jsei.ucla.edu.

Supranational Societies announce future Congress dates

 Members of the Council who represent supranational ophthalmologic societies reported on their societies’ activities and plans, including dates for future Congresses:

Afro-Asian Council of Ophthalmology:

• June 20 - 25, 2007, Marrakech, Morocco (www.aaco2007.org)

Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology:

• June 10 - 14, 2006, Singapore (www.apao2006.com/)
• November 11 – 14, 2006, Las Vegas, USA (joint with American Academy of Ophthalmology, www.aao.org/annual_meeting/index.cfm)
• February 24 - 28, 2007, Lahore, Pakistan (www.apao2007.com)

European Ophthalmological Society:

• June 9 – 12, 2007, Vienna, Austria (www.soe2007.org/)
• June 13 – 16, 2009, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Middle-East African Council of Ophthalmology (MEACO, formerly the Pan-Arab African Council of Ophthalmology):

• March 29 – April 1, 2007, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (www.meaco.org)

Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology:

• May 31 - June 3, 2007, Cancun, Mexico (www.apaocancun.org.mx/)

Next: Other Recent News

(Also see:

• The Latest News
• More news from the 2006 ICO and IFOS meetings in São Paulo
• the latest issue of the ICO Leader Letter.)