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From the WGA Executive Office
Kuldev Singh, MD MPH, Executive Vice President, World Glaucoma Association
I am pleased to report that approximately 650 scientific abstracts have already been submitted for consideration to be presented at the upcoming World Glaucoma Congress (WGC) that will be held in Paris from June 29th through July 2nd, 2011. Abstract submission totals generally correlate well with attendance and the number of submissions for WGC 2011 is a new high for our Organization. All indicators suggest that this will likely be the largest WGC to date, eclipsing the 2666 attendee mark that was established at WGC Boston. By the time you receive this communication, abstract submission for scientific presentations, grand rounds and the film festival will all have closed. The film festival, under the leadership of Program Committee Co-Chair Dennis Lam, promises to be the best ever for a variety of reasons. We are living in the midst of a glaucoma surgery Renaissance with numerous novel procedures having been introduced over the past decade and many more on the way. This interest in finding better surgical procedures for glaucoma, with or without concomitant modern cataract surgery, has drawn many new entrants to the global glaucoma com-munity, both in the public and private sectors. Cataract surgeons, in particular, are attracted to glaucoma subspecialty meetings in increasing numbers which is not surprising given that cataract and glaucoma are the two leading causes of blindness worldwide and are often coexistent in elderly patients. A safe and effective glaucoma procedure that can be performed in conjunction with cataract surgery will undoubtedly decrease global morbidity related to glaucomatous disease.
In addition to the film festival which will run throughout the meeting, the inaugural WGC Glaucoma Surgery Day (July 1, 2011) organized by Franz Grehn and Robert N. Weinreb promises to be most memorable. Program Committee Co-Chairs Jeffrey Liebmann, Choka Melamed and Joel Schuman have joined Professor Lam in making glaucoma surgery an emphasis at WGC Paris. They have invited several prominent colleagues representing all regions of the world to join them on the Program Committee and the WGC Surgical Subcommittee.
During a recent visit to Paris, I had the pleasure of meeting with Local Organizing Committee co-chair Eric Sellem as well as Committee members Jean-Paul Renard and Francoise Valtot. We discussed many logistical aspects regarding the meeting and finalized the venues for social events. The WGA is deeply indebted to our French colleagues who have been with us every step of the way in the planning of WGC Paris. Early summer is a highly desirable time to be in Paris, the most visited city in Europe, and thus it is strongly recommended that attendees book accommodation as soon as possible. The meeting organizers, OIC, have made access available to hotels of all standards and rates with the understanding that attendees will be faced with varying budgets. I encourage you to go to the WGA website at www.worldglaucoma.org to learn more about this Congress. We look forward to seeing you in Paris.
Kuldev Singh MD
MPH Executive Vice President