Attention: Medical/Health/Science editors and writers
Conference Advisory
Will the new century bring an understanding of vision loss and blindness?
Are we on the brink of discoveries that will change the abilities of ophthalmologists
to treat eye disease?
What new insights can we expect from ocular genetics?
What demands on eye care services will our changing society and environment,in
particular, a rapidly enlarging, ageing population make?
Can we afford to let people lose their vision?
These topical questions and many others will be explored
at a major conference, Ophthalmology 2000, "Eye Health in the Clinic and the
Community" to be held from 9-11 August in Melbourne, Australia.
The conference has been organised by the Centre for Eye Research Australia(cera),a
leading research institute at the University of Melbourne and the only WHO
collaborating centre for the Prevention of Blindness in Australia.
Notable international and Australian ophthalmologists,
optometrists,epidemiologists, researchers, and public health officials will
gather at the conference venue
(Mary Aikenhead Centre at St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne) to assess the current
and future direction of eye health and eye care services. [Conference organisers
expect(180)or more registrations.]
Federal Health Minister, the Hon Dr Michael Wooldridge will
officially open the conference on Wednesday August 9 at 9:00am in the Michael
Chamberlain Lecture Theatre of the Mary Aikenhead Centre(St Vincent's Hospital).
Conference organiser and Director of cera, Prof Hugh Taylor, said, "This is
the first time leading eye experts in eye health from around the world have
come together in Australia to address the growing problems of vision loss.
We hope to gain a better understanding of eye disease, discuss those factors
that will shape our direction and use the conference forum to find ways to combat
eye disease in both the clinic and community."
Prof Taylor will present one of the conference's key papers on the distribution
of eye disease in the community.
Cera has identified the five main causes of vision loss in Australia.
"We now want to share this information with our colleagues in Australia and
around the world," said Prof Taylor.
International participants include Prof Alfred Sommer, Dean of the School of
Hygiene and Public Health, Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, Maryland US),who
will deliver the Menzies Foundation Lecture on the Prevention of Blindness,
"World blindness and the Global Initiative."
Prof Sommer is a recipient of the Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award
for his work on Xerophthalmia (a form of blindness caused by a vitamin A deficiency
commonly found in developing countries). (This lecture will be held at the
Dallas Brooks Hall in Albert Street, East Melbourne on Thursday 10/8 at 5:30pm)
Dr Allen Foster, from the Department of Infectious Diseases, London School of
Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, will deliver "Vision 2020-The Global Initiative"(Thurs
10/8 4:00pm).
Selected highlights from conference papers follow.
Day 1 "Where we are and how we got here."
-Three quarters of vision loss in Australia is caused by five
conditions:refractive error, glaucoma, macular degeneration, cataract and diabetic
eye disease. Prof Hugh Taylor will discuss what preventative and detection practices
might curb visual impairment. How might genetic information,
new treatments and technologies assist eye care specialists?
"The distribution of eye disease in our community." 9/8 9:30am
-Refractive surgery has substantially changed the practice of
ophthalmology.Will the demand for new procedures affect the prevalence of spectacle
use and contact lens wear? Dr Grant Snibson "Refractive surgery". 9/8 10:30am
-Recent studies indicate the use of antioxidants and vitamin supplements might
reduce the risk of retinal degeneration
and cataract. Prof John Trevithick "Cataract cell biology and biology." 9/8
11:20am
-Dr Robyn Guymer asks if knowledge of the genetic basis of
macular degeneration will elucidate one of the greatest ophthalmic challenges
of this decade and hold the best chance to reduce the impact of this disease?
"Macular Degeneration" 9/8 2:00pm
-What is internet enabled disease management? Dr Jonathon Javitt "Internet enabled
disease management" 9/8 5:00pm
Day 2 The Needs of the Future
>Significant changes to the structure of the (Australian) population will occur
in the next twenty five years, particularly the proportion of the population
over 65 years.
Mr Tim Skinner, Australian Bureau of Statistics "The Future
Growth of the Australian Population" 10/8 8:30am
Along with an ageing population is a concomitant increase in the number of people
with age related eye disease. "Projected numbers with eye disease-public health
implications" Assoc Prof Cathy McCarty 10/8 9:00am
-There is a major maldistribution in the provision of both ophthalmic and optometric
services in rural areas. Prof
>David Simmons "Health care delivery in rural areas"
10/8 1:30pm
-Do we need a completely different approach to the delivery of eye care services
to indigenous Austalians? Assoc Prof Garry Brian "Indigenous Eye Care Delivery"
10/8 2:00pm
-Why have four major health promotions, related to tobacco control, road trauma,
HIV/AIDS and skin cancer been so successful? How will we address the health
challenges of the 21st century? Prof Rob Moodie CEO, VicHealth "The art and
science of health promotion" 10/8 2:30pm
-Health care costs are driven predominantly by medical technology, changing
patterns of management and clinician payments. Is the ageing population making
only a
small contribution to the rising health care costs? Dr Leonie Segal 10/8 3:30pm
-Blindness is responsible for a staggering toll of poor health, suffering and
loss of dignity and diminution in the quality of lives of people around the
world. Prof Alfred Sommer cautions there is a need to safeguard quality eye
care services in all countries in a time of constrained health resources in
his Menzies Foundation Lecture on the Prevention of Blindness, "World Blindness
and the Global Initiative"
(This lecture will be held at the Dallas Brooks Hall in Albert Street,East Melbourne
on Thursday 10/8 at 5:30pm)
Day 3 The Practice of Ophthalmology in the Future
-What changes to health research funding can we expect from the NHMRC? Prof
Warwick Anderson "Re-shaping support for Australian health research" 11/8 8:30am
-Could the distribution of simplified high quality imaging instruments, coupled
with telemedical transmission and assessment improve the detection of eye disease?
"New tissues and instruments" Prof Ian Constable 11/8 9:00am
-What research and development projects will Alcon Laboratories spend $230 million
on this year? Mr David Rath "Future Developments" 11/8 10:00am
-The future of ocular diagnosis will lie not only in the clinic
through expert ophthalmological investigation but also in the laboratory where
the mechanism underlying eye disease will be revealed. Dr Paul Baird "The Future
of Ocular Genetics" 11/8 11:00am
A complete conference program is available from
2000@cera.unimelb.edu.au. The conference web site is located at http://cera.unimelb.edu.au/new/ophthal2000/ophth2000.html
Press kits will be available at commencement of conference.
Pre-conference media contact: Susan Bogle (08)85 574 045 or mobile 0412 104
805. Conference media contact Jaqui Swan 0407 019 818
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