Ophthalmologic Societies:

More News of Societies and the ICO

More news headlines:

• ICO urges follow-up on WHA Resolution
  
  
• ICO seeks comments on draft strategic plan
  
  
• Council adopts Code of Ethics for ophthalmologists
  
  
• ICO establishes G.O.H. Naumann Award
  

(Also see: Latest News of Societies and ICO)

ICO urges to follow-up on WHA Resolution

The International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) is asking national ophthalmologic societies and individual ophthalmologists to contact your Ministers of Health soon and ask them to advocate for inclusion of prevention of blindness and visual impairment in the World Health Organization (WHO) Medium-Term Strategic Plan, work programme and budget at WHO regional meetings in late August and September.

In May, the World Health Assembly, the policy-making body for WHO, adopted Resolution 59-25, calling for intensified action to halt and reverse the rise in avoidable blindness in the world. The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) coordinated a campaign for passage of the Resolution, and many ophthalmologic societies and individual ophthalmologists asked their Ministers of Health for support.

WHO Regional Committees will meet starting August 22 to set policy and approve programmes of work and budgets for each of the six WHO regions. (For the dates of the WHO Regional meetings, see: www.who.int/mediacentre/events/2006/regional/en.)

"There are many competing priorities for WHO focus and funding, and it is critical that Ministers of Health speak up for prevention of blindness when the WHO Medium-Term Strategic plan (2008-2013) and work programme are discussed," said previous ICO Director for Advocacy Hugh Taylor, MD. "Please contact your ministers as soon as possible and ask for their support."

You can download Resolution 59-25 in various languages from www.who.int/blindness/en/index.html. For more information, contact advocacy@icoph.org.

ICO seeks comments on draft strategic plan

The Officers of the ICO and other participants in a strategic planning session in Zurich in July 2006, defined a vision for the future that would mean significant expansion of scope and growth for the International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO).

The planning group suggested that the ICO do much more to help national ophthalmologic societies develop, that it expand and deepen its historic emphasis on enhancing ophthalmic education and that it make a new commitment to increasing access to eye care and advocacy for prevention of blindness and research.

The draft Plan has been circulated to members of the Council and its Advisory Committee for comment. "Most of those who responded have been strongly supportive of the new directions proposed," said ICO President Bruce Spivey, MD. "But there have also been significant concerns expressed, and we have not reached consensus. We have asked members of the ICO to comment on this draft and then will take all opinions into consideration."

You can read the report on the planning session, which is also a draft partial strategic plan, starting at http://www.icoph.org/plan/part1.html or download it from http://www.icoph.org/pdf/ICOdraftplan.pdf. Comments are requested in the “Forum on the Future” at www.icoph.org/plan.

Council adopts Code of Ethics for ophthalmologists

On the recommendation of its Advisory Committee, the Council adopted a code of ethics prepared by the ICO Ethics Committee, chaired by Advisory Committee member Pinar Aydin, MD, PhD, of Turkey.

Titled "An Ethical Code for Ophthalmologists: Ethical Principles and Professional Standards," the code defines moral principles and standards to guide the behavior of ophthalmologists related to:

• patient care
• professional practice
• professional community
• research
• communications to the public
• fees and commercial interests.

The Ethical Code was developed over the course of two years with guidance from professional ethicists. It is on the ICO Web site at www.icoph.org/ethics and can be downloaded as a PDF file from www.icoph.org/pdf/icoethicalcode.pdf (164 KB). Comments are welcome.

The core-Code is intended to be general and include principals and not regulations, Dr. Aydin told the Council, but could be used as a basis for defining more specific codes of ethics for ophthalmologists within individual countries.

ICO Director of Education Mark Tso, MD, suggested that the Ethics Committee consider in the future how to teach ethics, particularly in developing countries. "It is a vital question for our profession," Dr. Tso said, and suggested that there be sessions on ethics at every World Congress.

Other members of the Ethics Committee are Pran Nagpal, MD, and Antonio G. Secchi, MD. Albert Jonsen, PhD and Charles Zacks, MD were consultants to the Committee.

Council establishes G.O.H. Naumann Award

At the end of its meeting in 2006, the Council honored outgoing President Naumann by establishing the "G.O.H. Naumann Award for Leadership in Global Eye Care."

The award recognizes both the leadership that Dr. Naumann provided as ICO President from 1998 to 2006 and the importance that he placed on ophthalmology and ophthalmologists providing leadership for the preservation of vision worldwide.

The Naumann Award will be made to one ophthalmologist each year who, acting as a leader of an ICO member society, has made a significant contribution to global eye care. The ICO will pay traveling expenses for the awardee to participate in the Council meeting that year.

Supranational societies and ICO members will be asked to make nominations each year, and the winner will be selected by a committee chaired by the Vice President.

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Also see: Database of Ophthalmological Societies and Residencies