International Council of Ophthalmology

The International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) is an international organisation which represents and serves professional associations of ophthalmologists. The Board of Trustees of the International Council of Ophthalmology is the executive body and operational arm of the ICO.

The ICO is building a World Alliance for Sight, working with ophthalmologic societies and others to enhance ophthalmic education and improve access to the highest quality eye care in order to preserve and restore vision for the people of the world.

The ICO was established in 1857 in Brussels when 150 ophthalmologists from 24 countries met in the first International Congress of Ophthalmology (now the World Ophthalmology Congress - WOC). The Advisory Board (executive body) was created in 1927 in Scheveningen, Holland. Member societies were added (International Federation of Ophthalmological Societies) in 1933 in Madrid, Spain.

Prior to July 2008, International Federation of Ophthalmological Societies (IFOS) was the official name of the organization, with the ICO serving as the executive body. But over the years the "ICO" became better known than IFOS, leading to considerable confusion and a proposal to adopt a single name.

The names for the separate parts of the group are now combined under one name, the International Council of Ophthalmology.

As a founding member of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), the ICO participates in the IAPB’s VISION 2020 initiative, supports and enables ICO member education programs and runs their own ICO initiatives sponsored by the ICOFoundation.

• Enhancing ophthalmic education, particularly training of ophthalmologists and other eye care personnel to meet public needs in developing countries

• Stimulating and supporting communication and collaboration among ophthalmologic societies and ophthalmologists globally and their involvement in initiatives to preserve vision

• Defining and disseminating standards and guidelines in order to enhance eye care

• Stimulating research to eradicate preventable blindness

• Raising awareness worldwide of the economic, social and personal impact of vision loss and advocating for increased funding and other support for preservation and restoration of vision.

• The World Ophthalmology Congress (WOC), which is held every two years in a different region of the world. The council presents the Gonin Medal every four years at the WOC.

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Wikipedia