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International Council of Ophthalmology Foundation

The Impact of Vision Loss and the ICOFoundation

Needs and Opportunities for Worldwide Eye Care

Greater than ever before, the needs and opportunities for worldwide eye care stem from population growth and aging, advances in ophthalmic science and the vital role of vision in the quality of life.

Great and Growing Need for Eye Care

Throughout the world, 161 million people are severely visually impaired due to eye disease and of these, 37 million people are blind. (Ref. 1 Global Data on Visual Impairment in the Year 2002. Resnikoff S, et al. Bull. World Health Organization 2004: 82(11), 844–851). World Health Organization data document that the burden of visual impairment and blindness is greatest in the least developed regions of the globe and the burden is greater, in all regions, among women than men. More than 1.4 million children are blind, but visual impairment and blindness are most prevalent in adults 50 years of age and older. In addition, an estimated 153 million people have severe impairment of vision, including 5 million who are blind, due to uncorrected refractive error. (Ref. 2 www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2006/pr55/en/index.html).

Adding to this burden, the worldwide population is projected to increase in number and, even more significantly, advance in age. Between 2000 and 2030 in the United States, for example, the number of people age 65 years and older will increase from 35 million to more than 71 million. (Ref. 3 Lee P. Into the Looking Glass: Factors and Opportunities to Reshape Eye Care in the Next 25 Years, Ophthalmol 2007;14(1):1–2). With each decade of increased age over age 40, the prevalence of vision loss and blindness increases three-fold (Ref. 4 Taylor, HR. Eye Care: Dollars and Sense. Am J Ophthalmol 2007;143:1–8).

Advances in Ophthalmic Science

At least 75% of disease-related vision loss and an even greater percent of visual impairment due to refractive error are avoidable—either preventable or treatable—with currently available knowledge and biotechnology. (Ref. 5 Global Initiative for the Elimination of Avoidable Blindness. World Health Organization/PBL/97.61) Looking ahead, scientific discovery, technological advances, clinical trials and epidemiological studies document increasingly effective medical and surgical means to prevent vision loss caused by cataract, glaucoma, infectious disease, childhood eye disease, diabetic retinopathy, uveitis, agerelated macular degeneration and a host of other conditions.

Vision-related Quality of Life

In the brain of each of us, nearly one-third of the cerebral cortex—the thin surface layer of 20 billion neurons responsible for language, consciousness and reasoning—is devoted to vision (Ref. 6 Nyberg, KA. An Early Start for the Thinking Brain, Yale Medicine, Winter 2007, page 10). Cortical cells joined through neural paths to the intricacies of the eye form the visual system that is the primary sense we rely on in our daily lives. Vision contributes to learning, mobility, perception and the quality of life.

The world today presents extraordinary challenges in the context of increasing economic, environmental and geopolitical interdependency. More than at any time in the history of human civilization, the well being of each individual is inexorably linked to that of every other. The reality of extensive and avoidable visual impairment and blindness throughout the world compels a global initiative to realize the opportunities for measures to promote the best possible vision for every person.

The stark reality of extensive and avoidable visual impairment and blindness throughout the world compels a global initiative to promote best possible vision for every person.

2008 International Council of Ophthalmology and ICOFoundation Activities Included:

• 2008 World Ophthalmology Congress. Hong Kong, China World Congress attracted 13, 400 registrants from 105 countries.

• Ophthalmology Program Directors Courses. Presented in Brazil, Slovenia and Ethiopia.

• Ophthalmology Training and Eye Care Centers: Advanced ophthalmology training centers in Nigeria, China and Slovenia.

• Ophthalmology Knowledge Examinations. Conducted for more than 2,049 candidates at 93 test centers in 61 countries.

• Ophthalmology Fellowships. Awarded to 54 ophthalmologists from 25 developing countries.

• World Ophthalmology Roundtable on Leadership Development (WORLD). Convened WORLD programs in South Africa and Nigeria.

• Eye and Vision Research. Applied research initiated in Shunyi County, China.

International Council of Ophthalmology Foundation

The International Council of Ophthalmology Foundation (ICOFoundation, www.icofoundation.org), established in 2002, acts to support ophthalmic education, advocate quality eye care and advance scientific ophthalmology through support of International Council of Ophthalmology programs.

With a yearlong planning process in 2007, the ICOFoundation Officers and Directors developed a strategic plan entitled Envision 2008–2010. Commencing with analysis of the activities conducted in 2007, this forward-looking multiyear agenda projects the ICOFoundation goals, financial resources and organizational development required to advance ophthalmic education and eye care in areas of greatest need.

Implementing the strategic plan in 2008, the ICOFoundation expanded the donor base, increased support for ongoing programs and initiated support for new programs including:

Dissemination on the Internet of presentations at the 2008 World Ophthalmology Congress(R) on the ICO open access website (www.icoph.org)
Distribution by the International Council of Ophthalmology and American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) of the AAO Basic and Clinical Science Course to 200 resident training programs in economically disadvantaged, low-income countries
Initiation of a Network of Catholic Eye Hospitals in Nigeria to provide sustainable population-based eye care; and
Commencement of Ophthalmology Subspecialty Fellowships, one year in duration, at the ICO/Alcon Ophthalmology Training Center, University Eye Hospital, Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Functioning throughout the globe as the World Ophthalmology Foundation®, programs of the ICOFoundation are coordinated with the International Council of Ophthalmology.

ICOFoundation Board of Directors Meeting in Atlanta on November 9, 2008. Left to right: Hilel Lewis, MD; Jean-Jacques C. DeLaey, MD, PhD; Bradley R. Straatsma, MD, JD; Rubens Belfort, MD, PhD; Paul A. Sieving, MD, PhD; Alice R. McPherson, MD; Bruce E. Spivey, MD; Timothy R. G. Sear; H.R.H. Prince Abdulaziz Ahmed Abdulaziz Al Saud; Alfred Sommer, MD, MHS; Yasuo Tano, MD; Paul R. Lichter, MD; David E. I. Pyott; and James V. Mazzo

International Council of Ophthalmology

Celebrating 150 years of international ophthalmology, the International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO, www.icoph.org) traces its origin to 1857 when 150 ophthalmologists from 24 countries convened in Brussels for the first International Congress of Ophthalmology. Since then, the ICO has been responsible for organizing the periodic International Congress of Ophthalmology and for conducting global programs to advance ophthalmology education, patient care and research.

The ICO’s organizational structure was consolidated in 2008 by uniting the ICO and International Federation of Ophthalmological Societies under the single name, International Council of Ophthalmology. Members of the former International Federation became members of the International Council of Ophthalmology and members of the ICO became trustees of the International Council of Ophthalmology.

Uniquely representative of world ophthalmology, the ICO, registered as a nonprofit organization in Switzerland, is made up of the national ophthalmology societies of over 100 countries and more than 23 multinational subspecialty ophthalmology societies. The ICO endeavors to bring together ophthalmologists worldwide.

World Alliance for Sight. Emphasizing the unity of world ophthalmology, the ICO—functioning as the World Alliance for Sight—strengthened collaborations with multinational and national ophthalmology organizations by joint organization of World Ophthalmology Congresses® in Hong Kong, China (2008), Berlin, Germany (2010), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (2012), and Tokyo, Japan (2014).

World Ophthalmology Congress®

In 2010, the World Ophthalmology Congress® will convene June 5–9 in Berlin, Germany, with Dr. Gerhard K. Lang (Germany) as President. We are anticipating another outstanding scientific and social program. More information is available at www.woc2010.org.

The 2008 World Ophthalmology Congress® in Hong Kong, China, was led by Dr. Dennis S. C. Lam (China) as President. The Congress combined the XXXI International Congress of Ophthalmology; the XXIII Congress of the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology; the XIII Congress of the Chinese Ophthalmological Society, and the XX Hong Kong Ophthalmological Symposium.

Organized by the International Council of Ophthalmology, the 2006 World Ophthalmology Congress® in São Paulo, Brazil, combined the XXX International Congress of Ophthalmology; the XXVI Pan-American Congress of Ophthalmology; and the XVII Brazilian Blindness Prevention and Visual Rehabilitation Congress. All components of the 2006 World Ophthalmology Congress® were united for the purpose of transmitting knowledge, stimulating discovery through research, and decreasing avoidable visual impairment and blindness.

International Council of Ophthalmology Foundation Programs

Programs of the ICO and ICOFoundation stem from the International Ophthalmology Strategic Plan to Preserve and Restore Vision — Vision for the Future published in 2001 and a comprehensive strategic planning process conducted through a series of meetings in 2006–2007.

With actions as closely intertwined as two strands of DNA, ICO and ICOFoundation programs support Ophthalmic Education and Training, Ophthalmic Knowledge Examinations, Ophthalmology Fellowship Training, Ophthalmology Training and Eye Care Centers, Eye and Vision Care Guidelines, Advocacy for Preservation of Vision, and Research in Ophthalmology and Vision.

ICO and ICOFoundation Programs: