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APAO 2017 Congress highlights
With more than 5,000 delegates from more than 70 countries in attendance, the 32nd Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology Congress in Singapore was a most successful and enjoyable event. The Academy is grateful for the support of this year’s co-hosts — the Singapore Society of Ophthalmology and the College of Ophthalmologists, Academy of Medicine Singapore — and our congress co-sponsor, the International Council of Ophthalmology.
During the APAO Council Meeting in Singapore, elections were held for our office bearer positions. The new APAO Executive Committee is as follows:
- President: Prof. Charles McGhee (New Zealand)
- Secretary-General: Prof. Clement Tham (Hong Kong)
- President-Elect: Prof. Ningli Wang (China)
- Vice-President: Prof. Ava Hossain (Bangladesh)
- Vice-President: Prof. Tetsuro Oshika (Japan)
- Treasurer: Prof. Hyosook Ahn (Korea)
- Deputy Secretary-General: Prof. Mingguang He (China)
All newly elected office bearers will serve a term of 2 years (2017 to 2019), with the exception of the Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General who will serve 4-year terms (2017 to 2021). The Council also endorsed the appointment of new Regional Secretaries for National Member Societies, Subspecialty Society Representatives and Councilors-at-Large. Please visit http://www.apaophth.org/the-council/ to view the complete list of our current council members.
At the Council Meeting, a special tribute was also made to Prof. Dennis Lam, our outgoing APAO President. Prof. Lam was APAO Secretary-General from 2006 to 2013, President-Elect from 2013 to 2015 and President from 2015 to 2017. During this time, Prof. Lam made immense contributions to APAO, including reforming our APAO Congresses, establishing our Leadership Development and International Fellowship programs, and starting the Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology, just to name a few of his more important contributions. The Council thanked Prof. Lam with standing applause.
On Thursday, March 2, at the Opening Ceremony of the 32nd Congress, four prestigious APAO Named Awards were presented. Prof. Donald Tan of Singapore was awarded the Jose Rizal Medal; Prof. Lin-Chung Woung of Chinese Taipei received the APAO ICO Mark Tso Golden Apple Award; Dr. Taraprasad Das of India was presented the Holmes Lecture Award; and Dr. Vishal Jhanji of Hong Kong received the Nakajima Award.
Later that evening during the Presidential Dinner at The Clifford Pier, outgoing APAO President Prof. Dennis Lam of Hong Kong handed over the Presidential Medal to incoming President Prof. Charles McGhee. Prof. McGhee’s term as president officially began with the conclusion of the 32nd APAO Congress in Singapore.
At the APAO 2017 Gala Dinner on Friday, March 3, a total of 16 APAO Distinguished Service Awards and 16 Outstanding Service in Prevention of Blindness Awards were presented to worthy recipients from APAO’s national member societies. Additionally, more than 80 APAO Achievement Awards were presented, including three Senior Achievement Awards. These awards recognize individuals for their long-term contributions to the scientific program of the APAO Congress.
At the conclusion of the Gala Dinner, held at Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay, APAO 2017 Congress President Prof. Tien Yin Wong presented the Congress flag to APAO Secretary-General Prof. Clement Tham, who will serve as Congress President of the 2018 APAO Congress in Hong Kong.
Selected photos of various events during the 2017 APAO Congress are now available on the Academy’s Facebook page. Additional photos will be uploaded to the Congress website at http://2017.apaophth.org/photo-album/ when they become available.
Additionally, certificates of attendance, participation and CME are now available for download on the APAO Congress system. Delegates may go to http://congress.apaophth.org and log in to their account using their APAO ID details. After logging in, select “Registration” from the menu bar on the left, followed by “Certificates.” Click the “Download” button next to each certificate to download it as a PDF. When downloading the certificates, please make sure to allow pop-up windows from the Congress website in your internet browser.
The success of the APAO Congress would not have been possible without the dedicated support of participants from the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. The Academy would like to thank all who contributed to this year’s excellent Congress. To ensure that future APAO Congresses continue to meet the needs of all delegates, the APAO Secretariat invites all participants to share their thoughts by completing the Congress feedback evaluation form available here.
The next APAO Congress will be held in Hong Kong from Feb. 8 to 11, 2018 (http://2018.apaophth.org/).