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Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology leads regional focus on growing eye care needs
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CHICAGO — The Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology unites disparate national ophthalmic societies in addressing the growing and frequently urgent eye care needs of populations in the region, a speaker said here.
“The mission of the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology is to be a regional organization for the preservation of sight and the relief of blindness,” Frank J. Martin, MD, APAO president, said during the opening ceremony of the joint meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology.
The first APAO meeting was held in Manila, Philippines, in 1960. APAO includes 90 member societies representing countries that comprise 52.6% of the world’s population.
“Among our members are some of the most developed and wealthiest countries in the world and some of the least developed and poorest countries in the world,” Martin said. “The Asia-Pacific region has a disproportionate share of the world’s blindness and vision impairment.”
Of the world’s 39 million people with blindness, 57.5% live in the Asia-Pacific region. In addition, 63.4% of the world’s visually impaired individuals live in the region, Martin said.
Cataract is the leading cause of blindness in the region.
“It’s a sad reflection on our society that uncorrected refractive error is the main cause of visual impairment,” Martin said.
Emerging causes of blindness and visual impairment in the region include age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.
In addition, the incidence of childhood blindness related to vitamin A deficiency and measles is rising precipitously, Martin said. Retinopathy of prematurity is also becoming more common in major cities of southeast Asia and southern Asia, he said.
“Education remains our main focus,” Martin said.
Last year, the APAO joined forces with Ocular Surgery News in providing ophthalmic news to member ophthalmologists in the region.
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