World Focus January 2012

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Chicago 2012

W O R L D F O C U SThe newsletter of the World Council of Optometry January 2012

> high-quality lectures> interactive workshops> excellent networking opportunities

Book now to reserve your place at thisinfluential conference

Continues on page 2...

Blackstone Renaissance Marriott Hotel24 - 26 June 2012


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Strategic Plan forWCO in development

Chicago 2012 save the dateAdvancing Optometry Worldwide, the

World Council of Optometrys next

international conference, will be held

in Chicago from 24 - 26 June 2012.

This three day conference will bringtogether eye care professionals,optometrists and students from aroundthe world. It will be a driving force forthe advancement of optometry withhands-on clinical workshops, high-quality lectures and networkingopportunities. Bookings will be takenfrom February 2012.

Call for abstracts

As part of the conference, WCOis now calling for abstracts for posterpresentations that relate to the

conference theme AdvancingOptometry Worldwide.

Topics could include: scope of practice in WCO regions delivery of optometric care within

countries and regions responding to external influences on

optometry such as legislativechanges and national, regional andglobal initiatives

examples of current optometryprogrammes and curricula.

Make your submission online atwww.worldoptometry.org/abstractsby Friday 10 February 2012.

Log on towww.worldoptometry.org/chicago

and join us atwww.facebook.com/WorldCouncilOpt

for up-to-date news and

announcements on Advancing

Optometry Worldwide as they happen.

The newsletter of the World Council of OptometryPage 2

The spotlight was on vision in sport at a

one-day conference at the Bharati

Vidyapeeth Universitys School of

Optometry in Pune, India.

The event included talks on the differentcomponents of vision, its importance insports and the management of cases. Theday featured panel discussions, workshopsand the chance to try out differentinstruments for sports vision evaluation.

Amit Shinde from the Universitys School ofOptometry, explained: The event began

with a torch relay between representativesfrom the nine participating colleges.The torch run was symbolic of the threevalues of the Olympics; respect foroptometry,excellence in optometryand friendship among the optometryfraternity. It was a day full of excitementand learning, and was very wellappreciated by all who attended.

Spotlight on

sports vision

WCOs Governing Board met in London

in October and continued work on

creating a three-year strategic plan

for the organisation.

As part of the plan, the Board adoptedthe broad competencies of dispensing,refracting, prescribing and the detection

of disease/abnormality as the minimumrequired for individuals to call themselvesan optometrist.

A new vision for the organisation was alsoapproved: A world where optometrymakes high quality eye health and vision

care accessible to all.

Work on the plan began at the GoverningBoard meeting in Puerto Rico in April.Londons meeting provided valuabletime to discuss possible objectives,strategic themes and a mission statement.

Work on the three-year Strategic Plancontinues and the final version is due tobe published in January.

During the meeting, it was recommendedthat the UKs College of Optometristsshould continue to provide the secretariatfor WCO when the current contract endsin December 2012. The College will be

invited to renew the Service LevelAgreement on 1 January 2013, for aperiod of three years.

Among other topics up for debate wasthe structure of the organisations meetings.Following a presentation by CompanySecretary, Bryony Pawinska, it was agreed

that after 2013 there would be a WCOconference every other year, which willincorporate the General DelegatesMeeting (GDM).

It was also agreed that membershipfees would be frozen in 2012, ensuringthat the organisation continues to offervalue for money.

The next Governing Board meeting willbe held in Chicago in June followingthe WCOs next conference, AdvancingOptometry Worldwide.

A world where optometry

makes high quality eye

health and vision careaccessible to all


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World Sight Day puts visionin the spotlight

World Sight Day was celebrated in October in a bid to focus global attentionon blindness, visual impairment and rehabilitation of visually impaired people.

A record number of optometrists, eyecare professionals, optical companiesand optometry schools in the UK, Ireland,Canada, USA, Australia and Norwayparticipated in the 2011 World SightDay Challenge.

The challengeinvited membersof the globaloptometriccommunity to showtheir support bymaking a donationto OptometryGiving Sight on oraround WorldSight Day. Fundsraised willsupport the

establishment of sustainable eye careservices for people in Latin America,Africa and Asia.

Students worldwide

In the UK, students organised a 10-daybike ride from Glasgow to Cardiff thatstopped at every optometry school inthe country. Canadian studentsorganised their second Dine in the Darkexperience while Australian studentschose to experience life as a legally blindperson for a day. A talent show atHouston University produced a highlyentertaining optometry anthem, TheGlaucoma Song, which you can viewat http://bit.ly/zr1h5Q

India

Staff and their familymembers gatheredoutside the Essilor officein BangaloreKarnataka,Southern India to create ahuman chain. This signifiedtheir joint determination tomake a positive impact onthe estimated 133 millionpeople living in India withrefractive error blindness.

Other activities in thecountry included eyeexaminations at vision centresand temporary screeningstations throughout thecountry, and the presentationof a paper by Dr. Rajesh Wadhwa,President of the Indian OptometryFederation, titled Cost EffectiveOptometry Participation.

The day was marked around the

world with a series of get your eyes

checked themed events and

more, including:

eye promotion and visionscreenings in Australia

screening in Cambodiain collaboration with IRIS inPhnom Penh

a festival day that includedpresentations by visually impairedpeople, scheduled cataractsurgeries and vision screeningsin Malawi

low sight games, vision screening,laboratory tours, music and dancein Mozambique

a talk show featuring Vision

Centre activities and communityeye screenings in Nigeria

outreach screening programsto local schools and women'sgroups in Papua New Guinea

community eye awareness activitiesin local schools in South Africa

the launch of new Vision Centrein Tanzania

the launch and ratification ofVietnam Australia Vision SupportProgram (VAVSP) that will support

the development of eye careservices for 43,000 school childrenin Vietnam.

Joint determination to

make a positive impact on

the estimated 133 million

people living in India with

refractive error blindness

WSD Challenge


5/10The newsletter of the World Council of Optometry Page 5

Ghana

A Ghanian child gets tested for the first time byDr Anne Ebri, Country Manager for West Africa,ICEE child eye health vision screening programme.

Sri LankaA school girl sees the board clearly for the firsttime wearing her new glasses from theDaraniyagala Vision Centre supported by ICEE,in the Kegalle District, Sri Lanka.

Samoa

Three school girls in Samoa join in an eyescreening as part of an outreach clinic visitingtheir school.

Above: Photos courtesy of ICEE. Photographer Dean Saffron

NigeriaThe Imo State chapter of the NigerianOptometric Association (NOA) took to theairwaves in a phone-in programme onthe eradication of preventable blindness.

Celebrations continued in the area with a rally ofNOA and Nigerian Optometric Student Association(NOSA) members who marched and danced fromthe states temporary secretariat to the StateSpecialist Hospital where free eye screenings werecarried out.

In the Federal Capital Territory, over 600 people were

screened in local schools and in the community,while nearly 300 people received glaucomascreening at hospitals in the region. The localchapter of the NOA also held talks on glaucoma,common eye ailments and refractive errors, aswell as community screening programmes.

The local chapter of the

NOA also held talks on

glaucoma, common eye

ailments and refractive

errors, as well as community

screening programmes

World Sight Day continued...


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Optometry Giving Sight has been named

charity of the year for 2011 by the UK

Association of Optometrists (AOP).

The global charity's UK operationsecured 53% of all votes in the Charity,

Company or Practice of the Yearcategory. This category awards theorganisation that has done the most topromote and expand optometry, orwhich has brought the benefits of opticsto a wider audience.

Optometry Giving Sight was firstestablished in the UK in 2003 when theWorld Optometry Foundation (WOF), theInternational Centre for Eyecare

Education (ICEE) and the InternationalAgency for the Prevention of Blindness(IAPB) came together to mobiliseresources from the optometric communityto help eliminate refractive error blindness

and low vision in the developing world.

Since then, the UK operation hasexpanded through the growing supportfrom the country's optical profession andnow makes a significant contribution toOptometry Giving Sight's globalfundraising efforts.

Optometry Giving Sight winsAOP Charity of the Year

Past president speaks at

VOSH meeting

Dr Juan Vazquez, AssociacinLatinoamericana de Optometray pticos (ALDOO) Past President,was guest speaker at the recentVSOH/International annual meeting.Dr Vazquez spoke about the statusof optometry in Latin America,revealing that organised optometryexists in Argentina, Chile, Mexico,Panama, Colombia, the Caribbeanand Puerto Rico, but that in somecountries, such as Brazil, optometryis still not legally recognised.

ALDOO meet with students in

Argentina

Members of ALDOO recently paida visit to the University of La Plata,Argentina, for a tour of the facility.The visit included a one-dayconvention for the universitysstudents with lectures from ALDOOmembers on topics such aspharmacology, prosthetics, dyslexiaand amblyopia and infant vision.

The university are also set to receivea donation from the VOSH TechnicalTransfer Program (TTP) - an initiativethat identifies schools that are inneed of equipment.

Optometry schools in Mexico united

The Asociacion Mexicana deFacultades, Escuelas y Colegios yConsejos de Optometry (AMFECCO)has united Mexicos nine optometryschools and optometric organisations,and has now been welcomed as anew ALDOO member.

Find out more about ALDOO atwww.aldoo.org

News round-up from LatinAmerica

Michael de Rosier, Director of VOSH TechnicalTransfer Programme and Juan Vazquez, PastPresident of ALDOO

After two years in planning andconstruction, the Southern College of

Optometry (SCO), Tennessee, USA, has

opened its new advanced procedures

theatre and digital observatory.

Using the digital observatory, as many as22 interns can now watch proceduresbeing performed and interact withsurgeons and technical staff remotelywithout inconvenience to the patient.

In the advanced procedures theatre,three ophthalmic lasers and

radiofrequency instruments will, for the

first time, provide doctors-in-training withviews of procedures from both thedoctors and patients perspective.

We have designed a patient care andteaching facility that will provide studentsand interns with unparalleled clinicaleducation, said Dr James Venable, SCOsVice President for Clinical Programs.

These new facilities will ensure SCO livesup to its aim of providing the mosttechnologically advanced training forits students and future generations of

health care providers.

College finishes work on newtheatre and observatory

WCO are inviting applications for the

2012 Fellowship Programme.

The programme supports thedevelopment of eye and vision careworldwide by providing financialassistance to optometrists in the

following categories: travel bursaries (maximum 1,800)

technical support for WCO projects(maximum 3,000 per year, for up-totwo years)

ad hoc applications (maximum 1,800).

For your chance to be considered for aFellowship, please submit your applicationto WCO by 31 March 2012.

Find out more about the FellowshipProgramme by reading the reportfrom a recent recipient on page six,

or log on towww.worldoptometry.org/fellowship2012

FellowshipProgramme 2012


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2012 will be a landmark year for

optometry in East Africa as the first

locally trained eye care professionals

prepare to graduate in Malawi,

Mozambique and Mali.

Following their graduation, sixoptometrists will go on to complete ayear-long internship before enteringthe public sector as fully qualified eyecare professionals. The optometryprogramme has provided me with the

An exciting year ahead foroptometry in East Africa

Discussion and debate on optometry as

a primary eye care profession took

centre stage in November 2011 when

over 500 speakers and delegates from

around the world gathered in Singapore

for the 18th Asia Pacific Optometric

Congress (APOC).

Like many countries around the world,Singapore has an aging population, but

also has one of the highest rates of myopiain the world. With the demand for eye caregrowing in Singapore and worldwide, thiscongress was the ideal opportunity fordelegates to discuss the role optometristscan play in primary eye care.

The event was hosted by the SingaporeOptometric Association (SOA) andfeatured a thought-provoking and

popular lecture by Prof David Wong,Director of the Eye Institute, Hong Kong,on the role of optometrists in diabeticretinopathy screening, and how theprofession has contributed to reducingeye care cost and preventing blindness.

Following a successful bid, the 19thAPOC will be hosted by the KoreaOptometrist Association in 2013.

Optometry a primary eye care profession

Left to right: Prof Carly Lam, Secretary General, APCO, Dr Koh Liang Hwee, President, SOA, Dr Akio Kanai, President, APCO, Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister of Health,Singapore, Dr Khoo Chong Yew, Chairman, Optometrist and Optician Board of Singapore, and Prof George Woo, Immediate Past President WCO and APCO.

training I never expected in my life. I amproud of the fact that I am one of thepioneers of the optometry programme

at Mzuzu University, said Ignatius, oneof the graduates from Malawi.

These valuable training programmes

were made possible by funding from

WCO members through their support

of Optometry Giving Sight.

Malawi

Training was made possible by theSchools of Optometry Project in Malawi,a collaboration between OptometryGiving Sight, the International Centre forEyecare Education (ICEE), Sight Savers

International, Mzuzu University and theMalawi College of Health Sciences.

Mozambique

Since 2009 the Mozambique EyecareProject (MEP) team has been visitingthe country to reduce avoidable

blindness and vision impairment by2020. The project is an Irish Aid fundedinitiative, involving partners from Lrio

University in Mozambique and ICEE, incollaboration with the Dublin Instituteof Technology (DIT) and the Universityof Ulster. Thanks to the efforts of thisproject, there will be 56 optometrists inMozambique by 2015.

Mali

Although it has an estimatedpopulation of more than 14 million,Mali currently has only one optometrist Mr Amassagou Dougnon. In additionto working in local clinics, he is headof the new Training Centre for

Optometry hosted within the InstitutdOphtalmologie Tropicale de lAfrique(IOTA). The Training Centre was openedin 2008, and trains eight students peryear as Optometric Assistants.

Find out more at www.givingsight.org.


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Send us your newsPlease send your news and views for inclusion in the next issue of World Focusto [email protected] by 26 June 2012.

We have also introduced a regular e-newletter. Email us at any time withyour submissions or to join our mailing list.

World Focus and our e-newsletter are written, produced and distributed to keep

you informed of the latest optometry news and developments, and we need yourcontributions so your fellow members know what is happening in your region.

SpainOPTOM 201217 19 Februarywww.optomcongreso.com

MexicoIV National Congressof Optometry8 10 Marchwww.servimed.com.mx/optometria12

ItalyMIDO 201211 - 13 Marchwww.mido.it

UKOptometry TomorrowCollege of Optometrists18 - 19 March 2012www.college-optometrists.org

AustraliaAustralian Vision ConventionOptometrists Association Australia13 - 15 Aprilwww.optometrists.asn.au

IrelandECOO Spring Meeting

19 - 22 April 2012www.ecoo.info

Page 10

Public HealthCommittee update

The WCOs Public Health Committeeis conducting a global survey onpublic health training at optometryschools.

This information will inform the

committee and WCO of thekey priorities to expand publichealth training. This will work towardsadvancing the role of optometryin meeting the needs of the mostdisadvantaged.

The survey will be completed inJune 2012.

IrelandDublin 2012European Academy ofOptometry and Optics20 - 22 April 2012www.eaoo.info/dublin

NorwayConferenceThe Norwegian Associationof Optometry20 22 Aprilwww.synsinformasjon.no/lm2012

USAChicago 2012World Council of Optometry24 - 26 Junewww.worldoptometry.org/chicago

USAOptometrys Meeting

American Optometric Association27 Jun 1 Julywww.optometrysmeeting.org

IndiaNinth General AssemblyInternational Agency for thePrevention of Blindness (IAPB)17 20 Septemberwww.iapb.orgwww.VISION2020.org

USA

2012 PhoenixAmerican Academy ofOptometry24 - 27 Octoberwww.aaopt.org/meetings

Add your event to the WCOwebsite.Please keep an eye onthe WCO website for news ofevents in your region.

If you would like to advertiseyour event on the site, please

email details [email protected]

InternationalOptometrist ofthe YearNominations are invited for WCOsInternational Optometrist of the Year(IOY) award.

The award is given to an optometristwho has made an outstandingcontribution to the development ofthe profession worldwide.

The accolade was last awardedposthumously to Dr Tom Little, who waskilled in August 2010 whilst leading ahumanitarian health mission inAfghanistan.

For details on how to nominate,please log on towww.worldoptometry.org/IOY. Please

make sure you submit your nominationby 24 February 2012.

Dr Tom Little

With thanks to WCO's annual sponsor:

World Council of Optometry

42 Craven Street, London WC2N 5NG, United Kingdomwww worldoptometry org | enquiries@worldoptometry org

World Focus January 2012

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