The 4th World Congress of Optometry comes to Australia

The 4th World Congress of Optometry will be held in combination with O=MEGA23 in Melbourne, Australia, from September 8–10, 2023. This event has come about through a three-way partnership between the World Council of Optometry (WCO), Optometry Victoria South Australia (OV/SA) and the Optical Distribution & Manufacturers Association of Australia (ODMA). The previous three meetings have been held in Medellin, Colombia (2015), Hyderabad, India (2017) and Orlando, USA (2019). The meeting is scheduled to be held every 2 years and was originally due to be held in Melbourne in 2021; however, the world-wide COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the congress being delayed until this year.¹

What is the World Council of Optometry?

The World Council of Optometry (WCO) is an international membership-based non-profit organisation for individual optometrists, industry professionals and optometric organisations. Its vision is of a world where optometry makes high-quality eye health and vision care accessible to all people. Its mission is to facilitate the development of optometry around the world and support optometrists in promoting eye health and vision care as a human right through advocacy, education, policy development and humanitarian outreach.

The WCO originated as the International Optical League (IOL) in Berlin, Germany in 1927. Shortly after, the IOL office moved to London, England. In 1969, the IOL was renamed the International Optometric and Optical League (IOOL) to reflect the evolution of optometry. In 1995, the organisation was renamed the World Council of Optometry (WCO) and in 1997 the office headquarters moved to the Pennsylvania College of Optometry in the United States. From 2008 to 2015, the College of Optometrists in the United Kingdom hosted the WCO office. In 2015, the WCO moved to the USA and was hosted by the American Optometric Association in their offices located in St Louis, Missouri.

Through its members, the WCO seeks to impact the development of global optometry by:

• advancing optometric education and legislation around the world

• providing resources in areas where optometry is still developing

• assisting countries regarding regulatory and scope of practice issues

• maintaining positive relationships with global health care organisations¹

Highlights of the 4^th World Congress of Optometry

The event this year is expected to attract over 2,000 global professionals – including optometrists, optical dispensers, ophthalmologists, orthoptists, ophthalmic nurses, practice staff, optical retailers and service providers, scientists, technicians and students – to Australia over 3 days.

Although this is a truly international congress, it provides a valuable opportunity for Australian academics and clinicians to showcase to the ophthalmic world the outstanding research underway in this country, which is ultimately aimed at securing improved vision and eye health outcomes across the globe. To further reinforce the unique Australian flavour of the meeting, congress organisers are partnering with local Indigenous representatives to ensure that Indigenous eye health and cultural awareness issues are integrated into the academic program, as well as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australian art and craft market as part of the social program.

The congress will offer a fully accredited program, featuring clinical and research speakers from Australia and around the world, in a multi-stream format, which includes keynote lectures, poster sessions and breakout sessions, along with a networking program. The congress will also include masterclasses aimed at further developing business skills of front-of-house staff, to better support their professional practices.

Accompanying the program will be a sizeable eye wear and eyecare Trade Fair, featuring the latest technology, lenses, frames, equipment, instruments, and accessories. The Trade Fair is being supported by major suppliers in the optometric and broader ophthalmic community, and will incorporate a ‘Knowledge Centre’, where sponsors and exhibitors can provide educational seminars related to their products to help promote best practice.¹

Programme abstracts

For those wishing to ‘deep dive’ into details of the material to be delivered at the 4th World Congress of Optometry, the abstracts for all presentations are included in the Supplementary Material of this editorial. Each abstract lists the names and affiliations of presenters and non-presenting co-authors, as well as three or four key learning objectives to serve as a guide as to what one is expected to learn from the presentation that could assist in clinical practice.

I congratulate the WCO, OV/SA and ODMA – after having been initially thwarted by the COVID-19 pandemic – for their resilience and determination in resurrecting the 4th World Congress of Optometry, and providing the opportunity for clinical and academic optometrists and other eye care professionals in Australia to proudly share their research findings with their international counterparts.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Supplementary data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/08164622.2023.2215384