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IN THIS ISSUE MAY 5TH 2012
WORLD GLAUCOMA WEEK 2012
CARIOA IN BUSAN ,SOUTH KOREA
CARIBBEAN OPTOMETRISTS VISIT TVCI IN PUERTO RICO
Antigua World Glaucoma week 2012
ASIA-PACIFIC OPHTHALMOLOGY CONGRESS , BUSAN S.KOREA APRIL 2012 - PRESENTERS, GLAUCOMA PATIENT ISSUES SYMPOSIUM
L-R: KAWEH MANSOURI MD, UC SAN DIEGO-USA, EDUARDO
MAYORGA,MD, ICO-MEXICO, SCOTT CHRISTENSEN - USA PRESIDENT WGPA, JILLIA
BIRD OD - ANTIGUA VICE PRESIDENT WGPA
— at ASIA/PACIFIC OPHTHALMOLOGY CONGRESS 2012, BUSAN, S.KOREA.
(ABOVE)
WORLD GLAUCOMA WEEK 2012 TRINIDAD
CARIBBEAN OPTOMETRISTS AT THE VISION CARE INSTITUTE IN PUERTO RICO
WORLD GLAUCOMA WEEK TRINIDAD 2012
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OPTOMETRIST WANTED
Full or Part-Time
Optometrist needed for up and coming Optical boutique/practice in St.
Ann's. Salary and compensation package negotiable. Contact Mr. Miller @
621-2331 for more information.
Advertising Space - available here
Please contact
Nigel St Rose
excarioa@gmail.com
  
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The Caribbean Optometrist
WORLD GLAUCOMA WEEK 2012
Thanks to all who contributed to making World Glaucoma week another resounding success.
Again,
thousands of volunteers around the world rallied enthusiastically to
the cause of awareness and prevention of needless and avoidable vision
loss by the "burglar on the prowl, that’s just around the cornea". See the full text of poem contributed by Antiguan poet, Sylvanus Barnes below.
Once
again the Caribbean led many parts of the world in number and
creativity of activities to mark World Glaucoma Week as seen in the
numerous screenings, radio programmes and public forums in many islands,
and simultaneous Awareness Walks in Trinidad, St. Lucia, Barbados and
Antigua. Our simultaneous Glaucoma Walks are definitely catching on
around the world as these were copied this year in Ghana, and in India
where 82 cities saw simultaneous walks across the country.
Don't forget that you can still have your activities however small recognized by logging onto the website www.wgweek.net and signing in and uploading pictures etc....It's never too late.
Looking Forward with anticipation to 2013 !
Jillia Bird OD,
Antigua
Caribbean Coordinator. World Glaucoma Week Committee
CARIOA IN BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA
The Caribbean's mushrooming Glaucoma Awareness movement
was recently showcased in Asia as CARIOA President, Dr. Jillia Bird
presented images and summaries of regional awareness activities at the
Asia-Pacific Ophthalmology Congress in Busan, South Korea in April. Her
presentation: "Screening for Glaucoma and Raising Awareness in Small
Countries" was at the invitation of the Organizing Committee of the
APAO's 27th Congress attended by 5000 participants from over 50
countries and jointly hosted by the Korean Ophthalmological Society, the
Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology and the European Ophthalmological
Society.
According to the Congress bulletin:
"The
APAO Congress is one of the most widely recognized international
ophthalmology gatherings. The APAO, which currently has 19 member
organizations, has been organizing world congresses for over half a
century and strives, through its various activities, to promote and
improve eye health for all citizens of the Asia-Pacific area. The APAO
Congress gives all ophthalmologists, orthoptists, optometrists,
ophthalmic nurses, and other allied eye health professionals and
ophthalmic industry representatives the unique opportunity to see the
specialty as a whole, in all its impressive breadth, depth and
diversity.
Dr. Bird's invitation to co-chair the only Symposium on
Glaucoma Patient Issues is evidence not only of mounting interest in
patient-guided regimens in glaucoma management but also welcomed
recognition of the Caribbean's leading role in improving the world's
Awareness of Glaucoma.
Dr Bird observed that despite having to compete with
live cataract surgeries and other cutting edge scientific presentations
the Patient Issues Symposium had a good turnout. " These issues are
really only now beginning to get the attention from the scientific
community that they deserve... and not a moment too soon as we watch
blindness numbers due to glaucoma spiral upwards," she added.
The fallout from the Korean Congress continues with an
invitation for her to repeat a similar presentation at the 2013 APAO
Congress in Hyderabad, India from Jan17-20, 2013.
CARIBBEAN OPTOMETRISTS VISIT THE VISION CARE INSTITUTE IN PUERTO RICO
April 23rd-24th 2012
19 Optometrists from a range of Caribbean countries visited
The Vision Care InstituteTM (a Johnson&Johnson company) in Puerto
Rico. The participants were from Trinidad & Tobago, St Vincent
& the Grenadines, Grenada, Aruba, Curacao and Haiti.
The optometrists attended presentations on various topics,
including, an update on the material properties of modern contact
lenses, the ideal mode of practice for a contact lens after-care, the
importance of proper patient communication and a debate on the use of
fluorescein.
The participants also took part in workshops on Toric
Contact Lens fitting, Presbyopic Contact Lens Fitting and Patient
Communication.
However, it wasn't just all study, study, study! The
optometrists also got to sample a bit of the San Juan night-life with
some of the optometrists salsa dancing with the locals.
One of the optometrist based in Trinidad, said “The two
things I love about attending The Vision Care Institute are one,
reviewing updated information about contact lenses and two, meeting
other optometrists from the Caribbean and hearing their views on
optometry in their own countries and their own struggle to widen the
scope of practice in their country”.
Nigel St Rose (Past President of CARIOA) introduced the
optometrists to the importance of CARIOA and the need to have full
member coverage within the Caribbean.
It was a trip for gaining knowledge and a good chance to
network with fellow colleagues. We hope that TVCI continues its efforts
to update Caribbean optometrists' knowledge of modern contact lenses.
Submitted by Niall Farnon
President Elect TTOA
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