WCO e-news

We have responded to the World Health Organization's recent consultation on its 2014 -19 action plan for the prevention of avoidable blindness and visual impairment.

We emphasise the importance of the action plan in ensuring that all organisations are working to the same objectives worldwide and it provides a framework for our own collaboration with WHO. We also highlight the challenges that exist in its delivery and suggest priority areas of work.

See our full response here.

Fellowship Programme 2012

Thank you to everyone who applied for a Fellowship.

All applications are being reviewed by the panel and we will announce which Fellowships have been approved soon.

Conference workshops heading to ICO

Optometry professionals and students from around the world are being offered an exciting opportunity to attend clinical workshops as part of Advancing Optometry Worldwide, our next conference.

The Illinois College of Optometry (ICO), one of the oldest and largest colleges of optometry in the United States with more than 600 students, will host the workshops which are included in the registration fee.

The ICO trip will include a tour of the facility and the chance to attend a series of workshops or a lecture by the ICO’s Professor of Optometry, Dr Leonard Messner.

The clinical workshops will cover gonioscopy; fundus lenses; and binocular indirect ophthalmoscopy (BIO), while Dr Messner’s thought-provoking lecture explores ‘the eye in neurological disease: an anatomically-guided approach to disorders of the pre-chiasmal, chiasmal and retro-chiasmal visual pathways’.

Workshop spaces are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Book soon to reserve your place!

Advancing Optometry Worldwide will take place in Chicago, USA, from 24-26 June 2012.

Click here to register.

*** News from our members and partners***

Clinicians needed for RARE project

The Mozambique Eyecare Project are recruiting for a RARE study (Rapid Assessment of Refractive Error) which has recently obtained ethics approval in Mozambique.

The training is set to take place from 28 May - 1 June 2012, with data collection from 4 June - 13 July 2012.

The two appointed clinicians will be paid $500 per week as well as their flights and accommodation.

More.

Australian optometrists participate in Aviation Eye Examiners course

Optometrists in Australia are now approved to examine pilots’ vision following the roll-out of a new course nationwide.

More than 160 optometrists have attended the Aviation Eye Examiners course, created and conducted by Optometrists Association Australia with the assistance of CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority), and held across four states over the past 12 months.

More.

Refraction manual launched

The International Centre for Eyecare Education (ICEE) has launched a version of their Refraction Manual in Portuguese.

This interactive resource includes all the essential components needed for comprehensive refraction training.

More.

Armin Duddek receives award

Armin Duddek, President of the European Council of Optometry and Optics (ECOO), received the Optometry Award 2012 at the VDCO (Vereinigung Deutscher Contactlinsenspezialisten und Optometristen) spring meeting.

More.

SUNY Optometry co-sponsors summit in China

SUNY College of Optometry and Wenzhou Medical College recently teamed up to sponsor the 2012 Summit Forum on Low Vision and Vision Rehabilitation.

The summit was held at the School of Optometry and Ophthalmology in Wenzhou, China, and attracted over 150 practitioners from across the country.

More.

Optometrists Association Australia appoint new Chief Executive Officer

The National Board of Optometrists Association Australia has appointed Ms Genevieve Quilty as Chief Executive Officer.

Before joining the Association, Ms Quilty worked in senior policy and political roles in the Australian Government, including chief of staff and senior policy adviser to the Minister for Finance and Administration, and senior policy adviser to the Federal Treasurer.

More.