The Moroccan Society of Ophthalmology is organising its 28th National Congress from Thursday 5 to Saturday 7 February 2015 at the Pullman Palmeraie Hotel in Marrakech.

It is the most important Moroccan scientific event in the field of ophthalmology.

The main theme chosen this year is diabetic retinopathy due to the importance that diabetes and its complications are taking on in our country, with its major socio-economic impact making it a priority public health problem in Morocco.

This pathology is on the way to becoming the leading cause of blindness in our country; its overall prevalence is 35% and it is responsible for 10% of blindness in Morocco.

With the aim of improving the care of the Moroccan patient regarding this pathology, comprehensive continuing education consisting of four round tables will be organised throughout the day on Friday 6 and will be delivered in a plenary session by eminent national and foreign specialists.

Recommendations will be established to address this public health problem.

It should be recalled that Morocco, a country of 32 million inhabitants, is experiencing a significant deficit in health professionals and ophthalmology is no exception to the rule; the number of ophthalmologists, across all sectors, does not exceed approximately 1000.

In order to meet the growing needs of the population, the training of a greater number of specialists proves necessary while maintaining the prerogatives of quality and excellence. A round table on the training of Moroccan ophthalmologists will be organised on Thursday 5 February and will include eminent national and foreign guests with the aim of leading to the creation of a genuine board for the training of the Moroccan ophthalmologist, as is already the case in Europe, the United States and the Middle East, guaranteeing rigour and consistency in the quality requirements of this training.

Also invited to the congress are various ophthalmological sub-specialties, including the Moroccan Glaucoma Society, the French Club of Retina Specialists, the African Society of Plastic and Aesthetic Eyelid Surgery, the Moroccan Society of Contact Lens Ophthalmologists, and other fields. In total, 16 round tables will be organised on refractive lasers, corneal grafts, contact lenses, ocular infections, lacrimal pathways and cataract surgery.

The afternoon of Thursday 5 February will be devoted to training workshops for ophthalmologists, which will be led in collaboration with the Paris practical ophthalmology workshops and SAMIR by French and Moroccan facilitators.

In addition to national guests, the congress includes more than 50 invited speakers from abroad, all experts in their field of excellence. Five of them will be honoured with the awarding of the SMO Gold Medal for exceptional service rendered to the scientific development of Moroccan ophthalmology.

The winners of the SMO Gold Medal for the 2015 edition are:

-Professor Stanley Chang (United States)

-Professor Pascale Massin (France)

-Professor Richard Packard (United Kingdom)

-Professor Theo Seiler (Switzerland)

-Professor Yuri Takhtaev (Russian Federation)