Big things to talk about

by Andrew Sweeney

The 38th Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology Congress is one of the last events to get back into the usual swing of things, having been forced online since the beginning of the pandemic.

Remember COVID-19? It’s beginning to feel like it was a lifetime ago … but let’s be real — it wasn’t — and it’s only recently that our lives have started to return to a “2019 normal.” This is something you’ve probably noticed if you’ve been following Media MICE’s coverage of various ophthalmology and optometry events. Plenty of places have opened up to normality once again — but for others, it’s taken a little more time.

The Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology (APAO) Congress is coming back in full force this year and will be held in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur from February 23-26. And of course, the Media MICE team will be attending in-person — and looking as funky as ever. Not only does this event represent the final confirmation of normality returning (being one of the last “big” shows to return to real life), but it’s also notable for its bumper program.

This quarter’s edition of CAKE magazine focuses on glaucoma and cataract, and both conditions feature prominently in the program overview at APAO 2023, with two sessions dedicated to glaucoma surgery on the first day alone.

There are “hot topic” formats covering both separate diseases, various debates on major issues in cataract surgery and treatment, and a number of other symposia focused on more niche considerations. We’re particularly looking forward to Managing the Little Things That Mess Up Otherwise Perfect Surgery about cataract surgery on February 25, and Epidemiology, Risk Factor, Lifestyle, and Genetic, which focuses on glaucoma on the same day.

Learning from the best

To learn more about what to expect at APAO 2023, as well as what the organization is working on to help treat patients with glaucoma and cataract, we spoke with APAO 2023 Congress President Dr. Kenneth Fong. He is also a former president of the Malaysian Society of Ophthalmology and one of AsiaPacific’s leading ophthalmologists. One of the main concerns he has for ocular healthcare in the region is the disparity between rural and urban patients, and he hopes this year’s conference can help address that, inspired perhaps by the host country’s initiatives.

“There is an oversupply of ophthalmologists in the urban areas in all Asia-Pacific countries, and governments all have the same issues of trying to provide adequate cataract surgery coverage to rural areas. In Malaysia, our Ministry of Health provides a well-equipped mobile cataract service for rural areas in East Malaysia, while regular cataract surgery camps are carried out by the government and voluntary groups,” said Dr. Fong.

“Malaysia is a middle-income country and shares many of the same issues as most Asia-Pacific countries. We are fortunate to have a free national healthcare service that offers good ophthalmology care generally, while the vibrant private sector offers costeffective subspecialty care for local and international patients,” he added.

Dr. Fong was also keen to point out that a number of important developments are taking place in the treatment of glaucoma, too. The historical trend has been that access to glaucoma treatment was lacking, both in ophthalmology and optometry, and especially in developing nations like Cambodia and Laos. It’s a regionally specific problem too: There has been a trend of using medications for allergies that can cause serious side effects, including glaucoma.

Many reasons to be optimistic

However, while Dr. Fong reported that issues persist and that there are barriers to treatment in some places, overall the situation regarding glaucoma treatment in Asia-Pacific has improved, public awareness campaigns are increasingly full-throated and effective, and urbanizing populations mean more people have access to treatment. New technologies like telehealth are assisting rural populations, too. caused by a pandemic. There’s much to look forward to and Dr. Fong is particularly optimistic about the APAO’s work in 2023 and beyond.

“The APAO has carried out many outreach projects for teaching and training in Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, and Indonesia. I was part of the APAO Gateway Project subcommittee for several years, and we worked hard to fund and support such projects. But unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic stopped all this valuable work and we will have to start from scratch again in 2023,” shared Dr. Fong.

“Major conferences, like the APAO main congress and our satellite meetings, serve to share the current best practices from our members from all over. We also have many travel grants to support ophthalmologists from developing countries to attend. It’s an exciting time to be president and the conference should be fascinating,” he concluded.

— Dr. Ken Fong

“Many Asian patients buy over-the-counter topical steroid medications for eye allergies without undergoing a check-up with an ophthalmologist, and this often leads to severe steroid-induced glaucoma. More enforcement could be done to improve this situation and arrest this problem. Glaucoma specialists remain in short supply in the region, and good surgical care for both pediatric and adult glaucoma cases remains limited to tertiary eye care centers,” Dr. Fong shared.

“The main issue for glaucoma now is early detection, and we have very good national glaucoma awareness programs in most Asia-Pacific countries. Also, topical glaucoma medications are high quality and readily available too,” he continued.

APAO 2023 will be a great event for its attendees and the longer-term picture looks exciting as well with the organization’s continued outreach programs. These cover a number of conditions like cataract and glaucoma, with clearer prospects and without (presumably) the disruption

Contributing Doctor

Congress President of APAO 2023

Dr. Kenneth Fong is recognized as an ophthalmologist in the United Kingdom, Australia and Malaysia. He graduated with a medical degree from the University of Cambridge in 1998 and trained to be an eye surgeon in London. Dr. Fong then spent two more years training in the U.K. and at the Royal Perth Hospital in Australia to subspecialize in retina. After 18 years of working in the U.K. and Australia, he returned to Malaysia in 2009 to serve as associate professor, consultant ophthalmologist and retinal surgeon at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. He is currently the managing director of OasisEye Specialists in Kuala Lumpur. As of 2023, Dr. Fong is the immediate past president of the Malaysian Society of Ophthalmology (MSO), the congress president of APAO 2023, and serves as a council member for the Asia Pacific Vitreoretina Society (APVRS). kcsfong@gmail.com