On September 14, Dr. Roger Ohanesian will open the 12th International Ophthalmology Conference in Yerevan, by the Armenian EyeCare Project (AECP), celebrating the AECP’s 20th anniversary. Opening remarks will be delivered by John Heffern, US ambassador to Armenia, and Dr. Derenik Dumanyan, Armenia’s minister of health. The topic of the conference will be the treatment of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) with the introduction of a new surgical component, which can restore the sight of children when other treatments cannot. This specialized surgery is done by just six surgeons in the United States, while it is unavailable in the Caucasus.
With the support of Heffern, the AECP is fostering capacity building and cross border projects, which are in the interests of the US. The AECP is taking the lead in the exchange of experience on ROP in the region, with the establishment of their Center of Excellence for the Prevention of Childhood Blindness, as well as with their conference.
The September 14, 15 international conference will allow for Armenian doctors to share their knowledge and experience with their counterparts from neighboring countries. Some of the neighboring countries that will be represented with their physicians speaking on childhood blindness include Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
The AECP expects several hundred attendees at the conference, many of whom will tour Armenia’s neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) to learn how Armenia has been able to drastically cut the number of ROP cases. Those attending include a number of internationally-recognized ROP surgeons from the US and Europe who will speak about and teach the full range of ROP treatments. The goal is to exchange knowledge and experiences to reduce the number of cases of ROP, which has been a curse to premature infants throughout the world — particularly in developing countries.
