About the ICOFoundation

On this page:

• International Council of Ophthalmology Foundation
  
  
• International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO)
  
  
• World Ophthalmology Congress®
  
  
• International Council of Ophthalmology and ICOFoundation Programs

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 Envision 2008–2010, the ICOFoundation Board of Directors, at the Board Meeting on November 11, 2007, approved the recommendation of President Bradley R. Straatsma and elected Dr. Hilel Lewis as ICOFoundation President effective January 1, 2009, and Dr. Alfred Sommer as ICOFoundation Vice President effective January 1, 2009. Prior to assuming office, Dr. Lewis and Dr. Sommer are President-Elect and Vice President-Elect respectively.

ICOFoundation Board of Directors Meeting in New Orleans on November 11, 2007. Left to right: Rubens Belfort, MD, PhD; James V. Mazzo; Paul A. Sieving, MD, PhD; David E. I. Pyott; Alfred Sommer, MD, MHS; Jean-Jacques C. DeLaey, MD, PhD; Bruce E. Spivey, MD; Hilel Lewis, MD; Bradley R. Straatsma, MD, JD; Paul R. Lichter, MD; Akef El-Maghraby, MD; Abdulaziz AlRajhi, MD (guest); Alice R. McPherson, MD; Takakazu Morita and Yasuo Tano, MD

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 is the executive body of the International Federation of Ophthalmological Societies (IFOS). As such, the ICO is composed of members elected by Delegates of the IFOS; members representing the Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis, International Agency for Prevention of Blindness, ICOFoundation, and the major supernational ophthalmological societies; and members who are coordinators of the principal ICO programs.

Uniquely representative of world ophthalmology, the ICO/IFOS, 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. In aggregate, the ICO, along with the IFOS, brings together ophthalmologists worldwide.

World Ophthalmology Congress®

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.

With Dr. Rubens Belfort (Brazil) as President, the 2006 World Ophthalmology Congress® included an outstanding scientific and cultural program as well as the seminal Global Forum of Non-governmental Organizations working to preserve and restore vision. The Congress was attended by more than 12,000 participants from 120 countries. This underscores how our professional community has become global.

The 2008 World Ophthalmology Congress® in Hong Kong, China, will be led by Dr. Dennis S. C. Lam (China) as President. The Congress will combine 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. In 2010, the World Ophthalmology Congress® will convene in Berlin, Germany, with Dr. Gerhard K. Lang (Germany) as President.

International Council of Ophthalmology and ICOFoundation 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. ICO and ICOFoundation Programs

With actions as closely intertwined as two strands of DNA, ICO and ICOFoundation programs support Ophthalmic Education and Training, Ophthalmic Knowledge Assessments, 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:

• Ophthalmic Knowledge Assessments
  
  
• Ophthalmic Education and Training
  
  
• Ophthalmic Fellowship Training and Eye Care Centers
  
  
• Eye and Vision Care Guidelines
  
  
• Advocacy for Preservation of Vision
  
  
• Research in 0phthalmology and Vision

Follow the links in the list above for more information on each of these programs and how the ICOFoundation supports them.

Next: Contact the ICOFoundation

Also see: ICOFoundation Board of Directors and ICO Members