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30th APAO Congress to be held in April in Guangzhou, China
The Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology takes pleasure in inviting all of you to attend the 30th APAO Congress to be held in Guangzhou, China, on April 1 to 4, 2015, in conjunction with the 20th Congress of the Chinese Ophthalmological Society. With a subspecialty day program on March 31, the scientific program is world-class, featuring more than 600 invited speakers. While we are finalizing the program, we thank the Scientific Program Committee for its dedication to making the 30th APAO Congress a truly outstanding scientific meeting, showcasing advances and the latest developments in ophthalmology and visual sciences. Before the entire final program goes live, below is a sneak peek into the cataract and glaucoma programs.
Cataract
The 2015 APAO meeting will include 12 major cataract symposia featuring a strong international faculty. These programs will include updates on new surgical and IOL technologies, perioperative pharmacology, refractive cataract surgery and controversies in cataract surgery. There is a particularly strong focus on complications and complicated cases through major symposia on strategies for rock hard cataracts, IOL fixation with deficient capsular support, top pearls for complicated cases and “phaco nightmares.”
A special video symposium — “Cataract Complications – You Make the Call” — will require both an expert panel and the audience (via handheld voting pads) to determine how best to manage a variety of surgical problems. In addition, four different teams of faculty will compete against each other in the “Ophthalmic Premier League.” Presenters will show their top videos on complication and difficult case management, and the audience will judge the winners on basis of creativity and educational value.
Images: Lam DSC
Finally, subspecialty day will feature a lineup of four additional cataract symposia, each cosponsored with a major international specialty society (American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons, Asia-Pacific Association of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons, and International Society of Refractive Surgery). These additional programs will focus on femtosecond laser cataract surgery, correcting astigmatism at the time of phaco, pearls and pitfalls for implanting refractive IOLs, and managing cataract complications.
Glaucoma
Together with subspecialty day on March 31, the glaucoma program of the 30th APAO Congress is composed of 21 symposia of different themes targeting audiences of various levels.
Starting from the World Glaucoma Association Symposium, you will find yourself engaged in an exhilarating debate on controversies in glaucoma diagnosis and therapies among world-renowned speakers. Should we lower IOP if the only abnormality is retinal nerve fiber layer thinning on optical coherence tomography? Should anterior segment OCT replace gonioscopy?
Besides covering the classic themes, we will bring forward some updates on the new developments of glaucoma medical therapy together with discussion on the role of supplements, traditional medicine and acupuncture. You can also find symposia on hot topics such as the role of the lamina cribrosa in diagnosing and monitoring glaucoma and glaucoma in myopia. As icing on the cake, we also included new insights on regenerative medicine in ophthalmology and delivery approaches to drug therapy in glaucoma. For action lovers, you will not want to miss the video symposium featuring different aspects of glaucoma drainage and revision surgeries.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank our Scientific Program Committee Members, as well as our Reviewing Committee Members, whose support is crucial to the formation of the Scientific Program, which is the most important element of a successful congress.
Hotel reservations and visa application
Hotel reservations are now open to all delegates. All the registered delegates can be connected to the hotel reservation system after they have logged into their registration account. Please note that hotel booking would require a full payment in advance. Upon successful payment, delegates will receive a confirmation within 48 hours. If you need any assistance, please feel free to contact us at accommodation@apaophth.org.
Some delegates may require an invitation with a stamp from a duly authorized unit in China for visa application. After logging into the registration system, delegates can file a request for the letter. Delegates will receive the invitation by email. If an authentic copy is needed, please contact us at registration@apaophth.org.
APAO Achievement Award Program
Abstract submission results have already been announced. Delegates who have accepted the results with presenting authors committed to making a presentation at the 30th APAO Congress will receive their Achievement Award Program points in February. If you do not see an update on your points with your participation in the 30th APAO Congress by the end of February, please feel free to contact us at secretariat@apaophth.org. All the awardees, present and past, will receive an Achievement Award ribbon that they can attach to their badge.
4th Asia-Pacific Eye Care Week and the APAO Gateway Project
The 4th Asia-Pacific Eye Care Week was held during the second week of October. This year, we were pleased to have the Chinese Taipei Ophthalmological Society, the Hong Kong Ophthalmological Society and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists organize a series of campaigns and educational talks to raise public awareness on the importance of eye health. The prevalence of avoidable blindness remains high in the Asia-Pacific region. While quality eye care services are easily accessible in developed nations, they are not as readily available in less developed nations, in particular in remote areas where primary health care services are almost out of reach. The APAO is actively seeking ways to better utilize health care resources available in our member nations to help countries or regions that are in need. Through advocacy, dialogue and education, we hope to address the problems of avoidable blindness on a national and regional level. Conceived and consolidated by Rajvardhan Azad, MD, FRCS, Kanxing Zhao, MD, PhD, and Nitin Verma, Dip NBE, FRANZCO, MMedED, MD, the APAO Gateway Project sets an agenda with the aims to tackle avoidable blindness and to raise the standards of ophthalmic practice in less developed nations in the Asia-Pacific region. More details of the APAO Gateway Project will be revealed and discussed at the coming 30th APAO Congress in Guangzhou in 2015.
Images: Lam DSC