|
|
||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Presseerklärungen
Ansprache von Prof. em. Dr. Dr. h.c.mult. G. O. H. Naumann (Erlangen)
First of all I want to thank you for the opportunity - or I should better say - for the privilege to participate in this celebration. I stand here as a proud member of the German Ophthalmologic Society by presenting the International Council at the official request of my successor Bruce Spivey, the current President of the ICO. He does regret that he cannot be here in person, his letter is printed in the programme on page 7. On his behalf and the rest of the ophthalmologists of the world, I bring you congratulations and the reassurance that the world of ophthalmology is quite aware of the contributions of members of our society in the last 150 years. Second point: I’m delighted to note that several outstanding members of the 3-member International Council are attending this meeting. I mention them in alphabetic order: Rubens Belfort from Brazil. He was the President of the very successful World Congress in Sao Paulo last year and we consider him a hero for future world congresses in our profession. Jean-Jacques De Laey. He is the Secretary General of the ICO and an old friend from many fights for better ophthalmology in Europe. Zdenek Gregor represents the European society of Ophthalmology, Gerhard Lang is ex-officio President of the World congress 2010 and belongs in the international council. Nag Rao from Hyderabad, India. He is the President of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness. And Serge Resnikoff, we have not seen him yet but he will be on the programme tomorrow. He is the Chairman of the Chronic Disease Group of the World Health Organisation. Yasuo Tano. He is the Treasurer of the ICO, very important person and he is also the President of the World Ophthalmology Congress in the year 2014, seven years from now. Zbigniew Zagorski. He is the Chairman of one of the four curricula for continuous medical education. My dear presence, these outstanding members demonstrate that they are also convinced, that we celebrate not only the 150 years of the Heidelberg later German Ophthalmologic Society but also of the international congress, international council starting exactly 10 days after the informal meeting of the Heidelberg meeting. And we know that both, the Heidelberg and the International Council are the longest continuing meeting in all of medicine not just in ophthalmology. For both of these entities we can reaffirm that they not only had and have sense but they continue to make sense. Third point, Pat Wilkinson. We know each other for 40 years. He is President of the American Academy of Ophthalmology that most intensely supports the International Council of Ophthalmology by sheer size in membership. And on a personal note I would like to add, many young ophthalmologists after the War they are grateful to our American colleagues, who helped us to rebuild ophthalmology after that period of time. Two short further comments: We all know that ophthalmology was the first speciality to separate from surgery. That was a breakthrough in itself. But our profession also pioneered the breakthrough in international scientific exchange from solitary individual travel across the borders to internationally attend meetings. And this is usually not known to colleagues outside our profession. In the past decades, the International Council evolved from a selecting entity to one that has programmes and concrete activities. Together with the WHO, the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, a non-government organisation, we have formed a unique partnership - Vision 2020 - with the goal to eliminate avoidable blindness by the year 2020. Tomorrow, a session is devoted to the crucial question headed by Volker Klauß, our most engaged colleague in this area, with the question „Can we meet the deadline?“. For the International Council the answer, in spite of the gigantic task, must be and can only be a confident yes. But it is conditioned by two „ifs“. First, we must convince the public and politic that preservation and the restoration of vision must be a priority in healthcare. We have cost-effective methods as stated by the World bank, who considers cataract surgery the most cost-effective procedure in all of medicine. Second, we should make use of the educational tools that have been developed by the International Council of Ophthalmology on a global basis with experts from all over the globe and adapt them to the local needs following the old suggestion of the Club of Rome “think globally act locally”. I mention from the tools of the International Council that have been developed in the last decade the four ICO curricula for medical students, residents, paraophthalmic personal and continuous medical education, the assessment tests for young ophthalmologists that have been taken by 17.000 colleagues from around the world, the ICO three months fellowship, that has given 250 colleagues and more the opportunity to come to eye departments in the developed world. There are 18 clinical guidelines and standards that are an opportunity to follow or to adapt to the local needs. But they are available and you can find them via the internet www.icoph.org and find a lot of information there. But it all depends on all and each of us. Let us get involved in spite of our daily struggles. The question is why. And the answer can be put very bluntly: Because we are physicians. Thank you. |
|||
| Zurück Seitenanfang |
DOG Geschäftsstelle |
|
|
|
|
|
