The Middle East Africa Society for Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (MEASOPRS) is presenting a half-day course during the 11th Congress of the Jordanian Ophthalmic Society which will be held from 23 - 25 May in Amman. The MEASOPRS course, entitled "BTA Facial Rejuvenation" is scheduled for Thursday 23 May and the speakers are Dr. Amal Bukhari, Prof. Mohsen B. Kashkouli and Dr. Farzad Pakdel.

Dr. Amal Bukhari	Dr_Mohsen Kaskouli	Dr. Farzad Pakdel

 
The 21^st annual meeting of the Lebanese Ophthalmology Society (LOS) will be held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beirut, 24 – 25 May.
Registration can be done on site and the registration fees are US$100 for Lebanese participants and US$150 for international participants. For registration, kindly contact Trust and Traders by phone: 00961 1 333 900 or by mail: executive@trust-traders.com The Middle East Africa Vitreo Retina Society (MEAVRS) will present a short comprehensive Uveitis Course on Friday, 24 May at 14:30, presented by Dr. Hassan AlDhibi (KSA), Dr. Vishali Gupta (KSA) and Dr. Rola Hammam (Lebanon).

The course aims to help general ophthalmologists and residents to understand the basics of uveitis, review the classification and common forms of ocular inflammations in the region, provide a systematic approach to a uveitis patient and updates on the latest advancements in uveitis treatment in simple illustrated manner.

Other topics at the meeting include femtophacosurgery, presbiopic surgery, pediatric genetics and oncology and neuro-ophthalmology.

Click here for the scientific program.

The 38^th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the Ophthalmological Society of Nigeria will take place from 28 – 31 August 2013 in Asaba, Delta State. The conference theme is “Aligning with the national strategic health development plan” with a subtheme of “Promoting universal access to eye health.” Abstracts relevant to the theme and subtheme can be submitted to the Dr. Deji Akinyemi, Chairman of the Scientific Subcommittee, at dejiyemi@yahoo.com. For other details, please contact the Secretary of Local Organizing Committee at Enife@yahoo.com.

The Middle East Africa Vitreo Retina Society (MEAVRS) will present a short comprehensive Uveitis Course on Friday, 24 May at 14:30, at the 21^st Lebanese Ophthalmology Society (LOS) annual meeting, which will be jointly held with the Middle East Africa Council of Ophthalmology. The speakers are Dr. Hassan AlDhibi (KSA), Dr. Vishali Gupta (KSA) and Dr. Rola Hammam (Lebanon).

The course aims to help general ophthalmologists and residents to understand the basics of uveitis, review the classification and common forms of ocular inflammations in the region, provide a systematic approach to a uveitis patient and updates on the latest advancements in uveitis treatment in simple illustrated manner. Click here for more details about the Uveitis course and the speakers.

The LOS-MEACO joint meeting will be held at the Four Seasons Hotel, Beirut from 24-25 May, 2013. For more details on the joint meeting click here. 

Click here for the full scientific program.

Dr. Salah Mahjoub has been appointed as the new Secretary General and Dr. Omar Beltaief as the Assistant Secretary General of the Middle East Africa Cataract and Refractive Surgery Society (MEACRS). This is following the resignation of the erstwhile Secretary General of MEACRS, Dr. Alaa ElDanasoury. Dr. ElDanasoury, one of the founding members and a board member of MEACRS, played a leading role in the establishment and development of MEACRS during its formative years.

Dr. Mahjoub, a graduate from the Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, is one of the pioneers of refractive & modern cataract surgery in Africa and the founder & president of the African Society of Refractive Surgery in 2000. He currently serves as cornea & refractive surgery Director at the Clinique Ophtalmologique of Tunis.

Dr. Mahjoub was recently awarded the "Jose Ignacio Barraquer AWARD", from the Keratomileusis Study Group (KMSG).


Dr. Beltaief, a graduate of Faculty of Medicine, Tunis (1984-1989), is an Associate Professor in Ophthalmology at Charles Nicolle University Hospital’s faculty of Ophthalmology in Tunis.

MEACO would like to thank Dr. ElDanasoury for his valuable contribution in MEACRS and welcomes the new officers to our team. We look forward to their active participation in the furtherance and development of MEACRS both regionally and internationally.

A division for Optometry Services has been established in MEACO in compliance with a previous MEACO board decision which approved the enhancement and development of an effective eye health work force in the MEACO region. This division will be headed by Ms. Dina AlIsmail.
Ms. AlIsmail, who is currently the Director of Training and Development at Princess Nora University Hospital in Riyadh, is a qualified Optometrist and has been very active in organizing various scientific sessions specifically focusing on Optometry, at several international and regional Ophthalmology Congresses.

MEACO participated at a workshop on human resource for eye health (HReH) organized by Sight Savers International in Dar es Salam Tanzania 25-26 March 2013. The workshop was attended by wide cross section of NGOs, professional bodies, training institutions and IAPB- Africa. The workshop reviewed the HReH crisis in Africa and agreed on measures to tackle it using the ‘Appreciative inquiry strategy to map, identify, develop, agree and sustain’ efforts for HReH in Africa. The workshop, attended by over 20 persons from different organizations in Africa, agreed to form a group of all interested organizations to tackle the problem. Human resource development is a priority core area for MEACO. More details on MEACOs involvement in this initiative will be posted later.