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31st APAO Congress
From March 24 to 27, the 31st APAO Congress is being held in Taipei, in conjunction with the 57th annual meeting of the Ophthalmological Society of Chinese Taipei. The European Society of Ophthalmology has co-sponsored the event.
Gateway Project — the Laos Project
The 31st APAO Council Meeting, held on March 23, resulted in meaningful discussions and decisions about the society’s future activities and plans.
The council approved a memorandum of understanding between APAO and Sight For All, an Australian nonprofit, that will allow the organizations to work together on the first APAO Gateway Project in Laos. The Gateway Project was conceived by Prof. Rajvardhan Azad, APAO immediate past president, as a way for wealthier nations to help those in need, and the project committee is now chaired by Prof. Kanxing Zhao.
Images: LamDSC
This new initiative, called Strengthening Eye Health Care Services in Lao PDR 2016, will involve the cooperation of many agencies from Laos and around the Asia-Pacific, with APAO serving as a facilitator. Other participating groups include the Asia Pacific Council of Optometry, Christian Blind Mission, Brien Holden Vision Institute, Eye Care Foundation, Fred Hollows Foundation, Optometry Giving Sight, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists and SightLife. In Laos, the National Ophthalmic Center, Association of Lao Ophthalmologists, Ministry of Health and University of Sciences and Health will be involved.
Overall, the project’s main outcome is to reduce avoidable blindness and visual impairment in the Laotian population. This will be effected by various means such as the Lao PDR National Blindness and Visual Impairment Survey, refraction/optometry training, eye health education, curriculum development, awareness campaigns and the establishment of the first eye bank in Laos. There will be follow-up assessments of the impact of the different elements 9 to 12 months after they are completed.
Associate membership
Previously, there were two types of APAO membership: that for national societies and that for subspecialty societies. Now, the council has approved an associate membership in order to be more inclusive of other groups in the Asia-Pacific region. Associate membership will allow smaller societies or subspecialty societies to enjoy the benefits of APAO membership, such as its educational programs, although they will not be eligible to vote or to host the APAO Congress.
APAO 2019 and APAO 2020
In addition, the council approved bids for two future APAO Congresses. Bangkok, Thailand, will be the host city for the 34th APAO Congress in 2019, and Auckland, New Zealand, will be the setting for the 35th Congress in 2020.
The 32nd APAO Congress is scheduled for March 1 to 5, 2017, in Singapore. In 2018, the 33rd APAO Congress will be held in Hong Kong from Feb. 8 to 11.
Congress social events
The Welcome Reception of the 31st APAO Congress was held on March 23 in the Exhibition Hall of Taipei World Trade Center. After opening speeches and a welcome toast, attendees enjoyed singing and dancing in the style of the aboriginal Taiwanese people.
On March 24, the Congress Opening Ceremony was held at Taipei International Convention Center. To recognize important achievements in ophthalmology in 2015, the eight annual APAO named awards were presented:
After the awardees were recognized, Prof. Lin-Chung Woung, congress president, and Prof. Dennis Lam, APAO president, presented a check for US$13,000 to Dr. Rohit Saiju from the Nepal Ophthalmic Society. The money was raised by the APAO Run for Nepal, a fundraiser organized during the congress to help with post-earthquake reconstruction efforts. The Opening Ceremony also included performances by aboriginal Taiwanese vocalists and the famous Ju Percussion Group.