The Afro-Asian Council of Ophthalmology was established before 1958 and was based in Egypt. It is one of the oldest and well established Supranational Organizations concerned with the advances of ophthalmology in the Afro-Asian countries. Many of the Afro-Asian countries are represented in the council including Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Nigeria, Tunisia, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Turkey, India, China, and Ukraine.
AACO is one of the oldest supranational of ophthalmological societies representing most Afro Asian countries in its board and holds meetings every 2 years in one of the member countries in conjunction with the local of Ophthalmology Societies.
The council has organized fourteen Afro-Asian congresses over the past 50 years. The main subjects of these congresses were concerned with combat of ocular infections, glaucoma and cataract and had promoted the recent advances in cataract, laser and vitreoretinal surgery. The first meeting was held in Cairo, March 1958, the second was in Tunisia, April 1960, the third was in Istanbul, May 1964. The fourth congress took place in Beirut, Lebanon, September 1968. The fifth was in Tokyo, Japan, July 1972. The sixth was held in Madras, India, Jan. 1976. The seventh congress took place in Tunisia, October 1980. The eighth was held in Lahore, Pakistan March, 1984. The ninth meeting was in Cairo, Egypt Feb. 1988. The tenth congress took place in Jakarta, Indonesia July 1992. The 11th took place in Beirut, June 1996. The 12th was held in Canton, China in November 2000. The 13th meeting was in Istanbul, Turkey 2004. The 14th congress was held in Marrakesh, Morocco June 2007. The next meeting will be held in Kolkatta, India 2010.
The Afro-Asian Council of Ophthalmology hopes in the coming years to promote the advancement of modern techniques on cataract surgery and laser therapy on a wide scale, to combat the major causes of blindness, namely cataract, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and retinal detachment. Training programs will be organized to achieve these objectives.
To Know more about AACO Please Click here
|