EyeWorld Asia-Pacific March 2011 Issue

38 March 2011 EW NEWS & OPINION vision loss, myopic choroidal neovascularization,” said Dr. Reißig. This initiative, she added, “demonstrates Bayer’s commitment to ophthalmology and to this region”. EW E ditors’ note: Drs. Katz and Reißig are affiliated with Bayer HealthCare (Warrendale, Pa., USA/Leverkusen, Germany). Drs. Cheung, Ohno, Saw and Wong declared no financial interests related to their comments. The information in this article was presented at a media conference held by Bayer together with SERI at Fusionopolis, Singapore, on 18 January 2011. Contact information Cheung : gemmy.cheung.c.m@snec.com.sg Katz : +1-845-810-0463; todd.katz@bayer.com Ohno : +81-3-5803-5302 ; k.ohno.oph@tmd.ac.jp Reißig : +49-30-468-14668; elke.reissig@bayer.com Saw : +65-6516-4976; ephssm@nus.edu.sg Wong : ophwty@nus.edu.sg Geuder and Sankara Eye Hospital establish new training centre in India T he Sankara Eye Hospital (Bangalore, India) and Geuder Asia Pacific (the Asian subsidiary of the Geuder AG, Heidelberg, Germany) have established the Sankara Geuder Competence Centre (SGCC) in Bangalore, India, a training center for ophthalmic surgeons and staff. In India, an estimated 12 million people are blind, with numbers expected to rise. In most cases, a simple cataract surgery would be enough to restore vision, but an estimated 25,000 ophthalmologists and 20,000 related medical staff are needed to address the problem. According to Sankara Eye Care Institutions, only 900 ophthalmologists and 1,300 staff receive training in India every year. At SGCC, ophthalmologists will be trained in modern surgical techniques using Geuder ophthalmic instruments and systems. There are also plans to offer these training courses in other clinics under Sankara Eye Care Institutions. Sankara Eye Care Institutions is a group of hospitals in India recognized for making high quality ophthalmic care accessible to the poor sectors of Indian society: around 80% of Sankara Eye patients receive treatment for free. Visit www.sankaraeye.com for more information. The Geuder Group supports many international relief and training projects with the goal of preventing blindness and improving eye care worldwide. The SGCC is the first training project of the Geuder Group in Asia. MYRROR continued from page 37 Calendar of Meetings 2011 DATE MEETING VENUE March 21-24 Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology (APAO) www.apaosydney2011.com Sydney, Australia March 25-30 2011 ASCRS-ASOA Symposium and Congress www.ascrs.org San Diego, Calif., USA May 1-5 ARVO Annual Meeting 2011 www.arvo.org Fort Lauderdale, Fla., USA June 29 - July 2 World Glaucoma Congress www.oic.it/wgc2011 Paris, France August 20-24 29th American Society of Retina Specialists www.asrs.org Boston, USA September 17-21 XXIX Congress of the ESCRS www.escrs.org Vienna, Austria October 13-16 24th APACRS Annual Meeting in conjunction with 2011 KSCRS Symposium www.2011apacrs.org Seoul, Korea October 22-25 Annual Meeting of American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) www.aao.org Orlando, USA November 17-19 Australasia Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons (AUSCRS) www.auscrs.org.au Canberra, Australia November 19-21 Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO) Annual General Meeting and Scientific Congress www.ranzco.edu Canberra, Australia