EyeWorld Asia-Pacific September 2021 Issue

EWAP SEPTEMBER 2021 3 EDITORIAL Graham Barrett Chief Medical Editor EyeWorld Ƃsia‡*acific • China • Korea • India '[eWoTld #UKC 2CEKfiE r 5eRteObeT r 8ol 0o T he current issue of ÞeWœrl` Ƃsia‡*acific contains details of some of the symposia that were recently a part of our virtual meeting based in Singapore. Our annual meeting has always been the focus of our commitment to education and the exchange of new techniques and technology in cataract and refractive surgery in the Asia- *acific region. 1nfortunately, last year, this was disrupted by the "6 -£™ pandemic, and we have by necessity utilized the virtual format to hold our annual meeting this year. We had already conducted several online seminars discussing various topics but this was the first occasion where we held a full-featured 2-day meeting, which was held in conjunction with the SNEC celebrating the 30 th anniversary of their establishment. Despite the limitations of a Ûirtual meeting, belieÛe the APACRS meeting was focused and provided time for panelists and attendees to interact, discuss, and ask µuestions. ke Ƃhmed½s Ƃ*Ƃ ,- ecture was outstanding, and special credit to our APACRS team, particularly han 7ing Kwong for ensuring that the technical aspects ran smoothly throughout the meeting. We enjoyed the enthusiastic participation of outstanding international speakers in all the sessions; the CSCRS session in particular, a forum for the different regional societies to share a common educational platform, was a highlight and focused on low- versus high- tech solutions to the various problems encountered in our day-to-day practice. We always appreciate the participation of speakers from Ƃ- ,- and ESCRS in this session and liâabeth 9eu, Thomas ohnen, ,ichard Tipperman, and Filomena Ribeiro gave excellent presentations on topics such as capsulorheÝus, femtosecond laser cataract surgery, and planning for surgery. Our APACRS representatives included Takayuki Ƃkahoshi from apan, ,on 9eoh, and myself. The talks were of a high standard and once again we appreciate the participation of our regional partners. The final session, “Grandmasters of Cataract -urgery,» was designed to take full advantage of the virtual format; we were able to invite some of the true masters of cataract surgery, including oug och, aÛid hang, and aniel atinel, who along with speakers from Ƃ*Ƃ ,- provided insights into achieving the best outcomes in cataract surgery. 7e had oÛer £,8ää delegates register for this meeting and after 2 days of sharing, belieÛe we accomplished our goal of proÛiding a frank and up-to- date discussion, and sharing our knowledge and friendship. 9et, despite this success, we all hope that with the increase in Ûaccination, life can return to some level of normality and we will be able to hold an in-person meeting in 2022.