L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), Hyderabad is organising the four-day 9th General Assembly (9GA) of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) with the theme “Eye Health: Everyone’s Business”at HICC, Hyderabad from September 17-20, 2012. The 9GA will present new approaches and practical solutions to improving eye care.

“LVPEI is happy to host the premier event in global eye health. The 9th General Assembly of the IAPB is going to be the biggest ever in its history. We have over 1500 delegates registered from 66 countries, and 120 eminent invited speakers for more than 50 symposia, sessions and courses,” said Dr Gullapalli N Rao, chair, L V Prasad Eye Institute.

This year the assembly will include topics relating to prevention of global blindness, cataract, refractive error, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, childhood blindness, corneal blindness and eye banking.

Delegates will also learn of the progress being made towards the goal of VISION 2020: The Right to Sight (IAPB’s joint initiative with the World Health Organization for the elimination of avoidable blindness).

IAPB, a coordinating, umbrella organization to lead international efforts in blindness prevention activities. Its first major achievement was to promote the establishment of a WHO programme for prevention of blindness, with which it has remained strongly linked, and which is now embodied in the global initiative, VISION 2020: The Right to Sight.

IAPB General Assemblies are held every four years, rotating among IAPB’s seven world regions. The previous 8th General Assembly (8GA) was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2008.

IAPB currently represents close to 120 member organizations, including virtually every major international eye health NGO, as well as the global apex bodies for both optometry and ophthalmology, disable persons' organizations, academic institutions and concerned corporations. IAPB members are working together to eliminate avoidable blindness and vision impairment worldwide.