JAO - VOL 1 ISSUE 2 2008
2008, Volume 1, Number 2 Ophthalmic Education - Straatsma 49 working to preserve and restore vision. The Congress was attended by more than 12,000 participants from 120 countries. Convening thereafter at two-year intervals, the 2008 World Ophthalmology Congress in Hong Kong, China, led by Dr. Dennis S. C. Lam (China) as Presi-dent, is planned to combine the XXXI International Congress of Ophthalmology, the XXIII Congress of the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology, the XIII Chinese Ophthalmological Society Congress and the XX Hong Kong Ophthalmological Symposium. International Council of Ophthalmology From the First International Ophthalmology Congress in 1857 through the XII Congress in 2009, the peri-odic congresses were organized by separate commit-tees appointed at the end of each Congress. This proc-ess was interrupted by the tragedy of World War I, which devastated Europe and disrupted international amity. To rekindle the sequence of international congresses after the long hiatus engendered by World War I, the International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) was formed at a convention in Scheveningen, The Nether-lands, on July 14, 1927. The new organization was established to serve as a permanent link between all oculists in the lands in promoting and coordinating the interests of ophthalmology and its services to the community in general. [2] The ICO promptly con-vened the XIII International Congress of Ophthalmol-ogy in The Hague, The Netherlands, in 1929. Since then, the ICO has continued to organize each succes-sive International Congress of Ophthalmology and World Ophthalmology Congress . From its origin in 1927, ICO leaders recognized the need for a widely-based international organization to represent the interests of ophthalmology, promote the congress and coordinate global programs of education and blindness prevention. Thus, in 1933, the ICO formed the broadly representative International Fed-eration of Ophthalmological Societies. Uniquely representative of world ophthalmology, the International Federation of Ophthalmological Socie-ties, registered as a nonprofit organization in Switzer-land, is made up of the national ophthalmology socie-ties of more than 100 countries in Africa, Asia, Aus-tralia - Oceania, Europe, North America and South America (Table 1). Subspecialty organizations are increasingly important in the advance of ophthalmology. Accordingly, the International Federation of Ophthalmological Socie-ties expanded membership in 2004 to include multi-national subspecialty societies that fulfill specific cri-teria. Subsequently, more than 20 multinational sub-specialty societies have become members of the Fed-eration. In present form, the ICO is the Executive Body of the International Federation of Ophthalmological Socie-ties. As such, the ICO is composed of members elected by Delegates of the Federation; members rep-resenting the Academia Ophthalmologica Internation-alis, International Agency for Prevention of Blindness and the major supranational ophthalmology societies; and members who are the coordinators of the princi-pal ICO programs. The ICO also gains substantial leadership from members of the Advisory Committee representing the ophthalmology subspecialties. Use of two names, International Federation of Oph-thalmological Societies for the General Assembly and International Council of Ophthalmology for the Executive Body , to designate parts of a single or-ganization reflects history but results in confusion and ambiguity. Therefore, in 2007, consolidation is being planned. As this progresses, a single name, Interna-International Federation of Ophthalmological Societies Ophthalmologists Worldwide [3] Africa 1,881 Asia 38,914 Australia Oceana 1,003 Europe 44,930 North America 29,186 South America 8,434 Total 124,348