Asia-Pacific Association of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (APACRS)

The society evolved from the Asia-Pacific Intraocular Implant Association (APIIA) founded by Prof. Arthur Lim to reflect the dynamic developments in cataract and refractive surgery at the turn of the millennium. In 1987, Prof. Lim foresaw the importance of these developments in Asia, and the society has since witnessed rapid growth under the leadership of Past Presidents Professor Graham Barrett, Clinical Associate Professor Ronald Yeoh, Professor Hiroko Bissen-Miyajima and current leadership under Abhay Vasavada.

While the Asia-Pacific geographically represents about a quarter of the world, Asia is home to over half the world’s population. The society aims to address the continent’s cataract and refractive surgery needs, accepting the further challenge of the region’s social, economic, and cultural diversity. Meeting this challenge head on, the APACRS has developed various means to fulfill its function and guide its members along the path to enlightenment.

Print Publications

Among the tools the society has developed to achieve its goals is EyeWorld Asia-Pacific, an international anterior segment ophthalmology news magazine. The magazine keeps readers abreast of the latest developments in ophthalmology while hewing to a perspective that is always relevant to the particular needs, cognizant to the nuances of the Asia-Pacific region. Now in its 16th year, the magazine is read by over 50,000 ophthalmologists in 22 countries in the region, over 60 around the world.

Published quarterly, the EyeWorld Asia-Pacific comes in 4 editions – Asia-Pacific, China, India and Korea and each issue is also freely accessible online at eyeworldap.apacrs.org and via the APACRS website.

In 2017, celebrating its 30th anniversary, the society also produced the APACRS Principles of Preferred Practice for Cataract Surgery and the APACRS Principles of Preferred Practice for Management of Ocular Surface. The two publications were developed by distinguished anterior segment ophthalmic surgeons from the Asia-Pacific to provide guidelines based on the latest medical evidence and expert opinion geared specifically toward ophthalmologists and ophthalmic surgeons practicing in the region.

Digital Presence

APACRS maintains its website at www.apacrs.org. This resource is accessible to members wherever they can get online, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In addition to linking to the digital version of EyeWorld Asia-Pacific, the website offers news, important announcements, and a convenient biometry calculator utilizing various IOL formulae developed by Prof. Barrett: the Barrett Universal II formula, the Barrett Toric Calculator, the Barrett True-K Formula, the Barrett True-K Toric Calculator, and the Barrett Rx Formula. Prof. Barrett recently introduced a new feature to the online calculator: the Barrett K Calculator allows surgeons to input information from up to three different devices and automatically provides the mathematically correct combination of the data.

The website also features information on various APACRS awards, with listings of the APACRS LIM Lecturers and the APACRS Gold Medal and A.C.E. awardees, as well as programs such as the APACRS Young Physician Exchange Program and links to the Video Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery & Glaucoma Surgery, which provides additional learning opportunities via the best ophthalmic surgical videos, available in high definition for the highest level of detail.

As part of our mission to provide a forum for continuing professional education and skills transfer especially during especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, all the winning films from the last 13 years of the APACRS Film Festival were made available on the APACRS website at www.apacrs.org without access restriction. This treasure trove of films provided an educational and entertaining resources to viewers.

APACRS also hosted a series of webinars in 2020 and 2021 covering cataract surgery, refractive surgery and corneal surgery and videos also available on the APACRS website at www.apacrs.org.

Annual Meetings

All the society’s activities culminate in its annual meeting. The society’s annual meeting features a carefully curated scientific program, tailored and relevant to doctors in the Asia- Pacific. The program includes important practice information provided by a top-rate faculty from around the world.

Highlights of the scientific program include a small number of high quality MasterClasses covering the hottest topics in ophthalmic surgery today, Film Festival, Top Gun and features the Combined Symposium of Cataract and Refractive Societies (CSCRS). First held in 2005 at the 18th APACRS annual meeting in Beijing, this joint symposium has become the most prominent session at the APACRS annual meetings. CSCRS represents an important collaboration and alliance of ASCRS and ESCRS, major cataract and refractive societies in presenting perspectives from the four corners of the globe.

Held in different countries in the Asia-Pacific region and welcoming delegates and guests from all over the world, the APACRS annual meeting has become the most important regional meeting for cataract and refractive surgery and one of the most important educational events in the global ophthalmological calendar.

In addition to giving attendees the opportunity to network, a venue to meet new colleagues and renew friendships, the society at its annual meetings cultivates excellence by recognizing the outstanding work of ophthalmologists in the Asia-Pacific:

The APACRS Gold Medal honors ophthalmologists in the region for outstanding contributions to the practice in terms of service, teaching, or research.

The prestigious APACRS LIM Lecture, named for the society’s founding president, is delivered by one ophthalmologist chosen each year to share their discoveries and innovations with their colleagues.

The APACRS Certified Educator (A.C.E.) award recognizes ophthalmologists who have made significant contributions to the training of surgeons in the Asia-Pacific.

Through these and other activities, the APACRS continues to work in close collaboration with the region’s most prominent local organizations, bringing them closer together with international partners from elsewhere in the world to serve the cataract and refractive surgery needs of over half the world’s population.

Membership

Join the APACRS to enjoy membership benefits such as reduced registration fees at APACRS congresses, free subscription to EyeWorld Asia-Pacific News Magazine and more. Log on to www.apacrs.org for more information.