Words of the President
Invitation to the 16th Congress of the SEEOS to Prishtina, Kosovo, May 31 – June 02, 2019
Dear Friends, Dear Colleagues,
On behalf of the South-East European Ophthalmological Society, as the current president and as a representative of Kosovo Association of the Ophthalmologists, I am most pleased to invite you in the 16th SEEOS Congress which will be held in Prishtina, Republic of Kosovo, between May 31st until June 2nd, 2019. This will be the Joint Congress with Kosovo Association of Ophthalmologists. Kosovo Association of Ophthalmologists was established in 2002 in Prishtina and is member of SEEOS, SOE and ICO. Currently, we have 105 members, where among them are 80 ophthalmologists and 25 residents.
We are inviting the SEEOS members and ophthalmologists from all over the world to hold lectures, present posters or videos. Our intention is to provide an outstanding program, presented by world-renowned speakers. It will be a great opportunity to share experiences, talk about modern trends in the development of ophthalmologic care. We hope that you will also enjoy debates on controversial topics and discussions specifically aimed at the younger ophthalmologists, all of which will add interest and, at times, fun to the packed scientific program.
No SEEOS Congress would be complete without a great social program, which traditionally reflects the flavor of the host city. Prishtina is a unique modern city with the youngest population in Europe, has so much to offer, catering to every taste with its musical, artistic, and culinary traditions.
Let me again invite you to Prishtina next year on behalf of the organizing committee of the Joint Congress. Let’s look forward to an interesting congress, a manifold collegial exchange, to meeting with old friends and making new friends.
Yours sincerely
Prof. Gazmend Kaçaniku
President of SEEOS
Words of the Past President
Invitation to the 15th Congress of the SEEOS to Szeged, Hungary, May 31 – June 02, 2018
Dear Friends, Dear Colleagues,
It is the greatest honour and pleasure for me to invite the SEEOS members to participate in the next congress of the South-East European Ophthalmological Society which will be held between May 31 – June 02, 2018 in Szeged, Hungary. This will be the 15th SEEOS Congress, so it will be a great anniversary, as well.
We are inviting all SEEOS members to hold lectures, present posters or videos in the 15th SEEOS Congress which will be a joint Congress with the Hungarian Ophthalmological Society. It will be an excellent occasion to meet again and also to meet other Hungarian colleagues and furthermore with some worldwide well known experts from Germany.
The 15th SEEOS Congress will start on Thursday evening May 31 with a welcome party. The scientific program will start next day morning (Friday June 1) and will finish Saturday afternoon (June 2).
Lectures, posters, videos are invited to present on any aspects of modern ophthalmology. There will be sessions dedicated to cornea and anterior segment diseases, medical and surgical retina, cataract, glaucoma, pediatric ophthalmology, neuroophthalmology, SEEARVO, HARVO and VISION2020 Symposium. The abstract submission will be early next year and we will let you know the deadline in due time. The abstracts will be published in the congress abstract book in printed form and also in electronic form in the www.seeos.eu website.
Besides the intensive scientific program, there will be several excellent social events due to the warm and friendly atmosphere of Szeged.
Szeged is a large university town. It is situated South in Hungary, and as it is very close to the Serbian border, it provides an easy access by car from many of the Balkan countries. Szeged is only 220 km from Belgrade and it takes around 2 hours by car on the highway A1 to reach from there. Szeged is around 170 km distance from Budapest, Liszt Ferenc Airport, and it takes less than 2 hours by car or less than 2 and a half hour by train.
On behalf of the organizing committee of the Joint Congress, I warmly invite you to participate and visit Szeged in Hungary next year.
Yours sincerely
Prof. János Németh
President of SEEOS
Past words of the President
Dear friends, dear colleagues,
It gives me an immense pleasure and honor, on behalf of myself as a founder and the first and present president of the South-East European Ophthalmologic Society (SEEOS), to give a warm welcome to all guests and participants of the 14th South East European Congress of Ophthalmology (SEECO) 2017.
Some of you would remember that at the 1st SEECO in Sarajevo in 2004, I said that the Foundation Group promised to develop exciting programs for the next congresses of our Society, which would be held every year in other country. So we have the congresses in Sarajevo, Sophia, Thessalonica, Novi Sad, Dubrovnik, Budapest, Tirana, Istanbul, Portoroz, Ohrid, Bucharest, Budva, Bratislava and, again, in Sarajevo. I believe that, when you look at the lists of topics and speakers at our congresses, you will agree that we have succeeded in doing so.
Let me say a few words on our Society. The SEEOS has been attended by representatives from 14 countries of South-East Europe in 2004. Now, it contains 18 members with population of about 250 million (half of United Europe!) and 35 thousand ophthalmologists. We established our Society, its statute and have edited our journal. I am confident that knowledge and experience between ophthalmologists of these countries has been of a great benefit to all our patients. I am sure our congresses have become the most important international gatherings in South-East Europe.
Some of the first presidents of the Society were the society’s founders, and during their time at office, the society has expanded and improved and now it is moving into a more established and mature stage.
And don’t forget, while you’ll be in Sarajevo, to sample to feast for the senses that is Sarajevo – a lovely city, rich in art, architecture and music, and delicious cuisine. It is a special city because over the centuries various civilizations and cultures have left their mark in Sarajevo and the architecture and history testify to how this city’s cosmopolitan tradition serves as a museum of the entire world.
I wish this Congress success, which would be feasible only with your participation and support. I do hope that in this meeting we will have a really good, forward looking meeting, full for intellectual challenges and informative exchanges.
Dear colleagues, in the interest of science and in the name of friendship, I bid you welcome.
President of the South East European Society of Ophthalmology
Academician Mustafa Sefić, MD, PhD, Prof.
Past words of the President
The South-East European Ophthalmological Society (SEEOS) was founded in 2004, as an international regional association to collect the ophthalmologists from South-East European countries. Now, 18 countries – Albania, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey and Ukraine – belong to this Society.
Every year one of the member states organizes the Congress of SEEOS. After 12 successful congresses in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina (2004), Sofia, Bulgaria (2005), Thessaloniki, Greece (2006), Novi Sad, Serbia (2007), Dubrovnik, Croatia (2008), Budapest, Hungary (2009), Tirana, Albania (2010), Istanbul, Turkey (2011), Portoroz, Slovenia (2012), Ohrid, Macedonia (2013), Bucharest, Romania (2014), Budva, Montenegro (2015), this year (2016) is a very special year for me for two reasons:
Firstly as the President of the Congress of SEEOS, I would like to welcome you in Bratislava, Slovakia and share with you all the latest updates regarding Ophthalmology.
Secondly after many efforts, I would like to announce you the issue of the on-line South-East European Journal of Ophthalmology.
It is the official on-line journal of the SEEOS = South-East European Society of Ophthalmology which was founded in Sarajevo in 2004. The official journal of the SEEOS started as a printed journal edited by Professor Sefic and later by Professor Vassileva and now it is on-line from January 2016.
One of the pioneers and Editor in Chief of this Journal Prof. Janos Nemeth mentioned, that ‘’It is a new and large step forward in our relatively old Society to start to publish its journal on-line, the SEEJO = South-East European Journal of Ophthalmology”.
Aim of this Journal is to support practitioners working in the field of eye care, through innovative articles and case reports.
It is of my utmost pleasure to invite you to read our articles and invite you to submit yours and publish here your personal experiences and results in the form of article or video or commented slides.
Hope you will enjoy this on-line Journal and hope seeing you in Bratislava soon.
Sincerely,
Prof. MUDr. Andrej Černák, DrSc
Past words of the past President
Dear colleagues and friends,
One year more has passed and our meeting and gathering ended at the Congress in Budva. The 12th Congress of SEEOS was joined with the 1st Congress of ophthalmologists of Montenegro and was held from 15 to 18th October, 2015 in the hotel Mediteran in Bečići, Budva, Montenegro. The organiser of the Congress was the Montenegrin Society of Ophthalmology. For about 50 ophthalmologists, this was a great event and the first Congress after the Declaration of Independence of Montenegro in 2006. At the Congress there were about 320 ophthalmologists and specialists from 17 countries of southeast Europe and 4 countries of west Europe, as well as around 40 representatives of sponsors and exhibitors. During two days of the Congress programme, 85 papers, 35 lectures of invited lecturers, 5 keynote lectures and a sponsored lecture were presented, a symposium was held and a commersial presentation was given.
The same as each year, the Vision 2020 session was held, which enabled us to get familiar with IAPB Europe activities and the WHO global action plan, as well as the local activities regarding a better organisation of education, the organisation of the cataract surgeries programmes, rehabilitation of sight in children with impaired vision and the young with LVA and prevention of glaucoma.
Experience and results with regard to treating retinopathy in prematurely born children and diabetic retinopathy were shared. Thoughout a few sessions, many papers on the application of the anti-VEGF therapy at various retina diseases, as well as the results and complications in the application and accessibility of the anti-VEGF therapy in patients from the southeast European countries, were presented. Many invited lecturers delivered papers presenting the latest results in the field of eye surgery (vitreoretinal surgery, cataract surgery, glaucoma, eye trauma, refractive surgery and cornea surgery), as well as possibilities of the modern diagnosis of eye tumor, orbit diseases and the ultrasound diagnosis.
We are very glad that our Congress was an opportunity for many younger ophthalmologists and residents to present their papers and results in all the sessions, especially in the Free papers and e-posters sessions. The problems of professional development and education were also discussed in the Residents and SEEOS Yo ophthalmologists Session. Unfortunately, many countries of southeast Europe, which are on their way to join the EU, do not have their representatives as associated members in the European Board of ophthalmology (EBO), which is a great obstacle to accessing the EBO examination and obtaining EBO diplomas.
For the SEEOS and all the participants the presentation of a new online journal of SEEOS (SEEJO) was of enormous significance. Robert Guth, the director of a publishing company from Budapest, prepared the presentation and showed the possibilities and ways for online publishing of scientific and professional papers in the field of ophthalmology for the southeast European region. The first issue of SEEJO should be published until the end of January, 2016. This will be a great opportunity to easily present professional and scientific papers, reviews of cases and videos of ophthalmologists from this region.
At the Congress the meeting of SEEOS Board was held. According to the agenda, the decisions referring to the SEEJO online journal, recommendations for the following Congress of SEEOS, promotions and establishing a connection between the Society and other global societies and congresses (SOE, EURETINA, WOS), as well as attendance and sponsorships at national congresses and meetings in the countries of southeast Europe, were made. The emphasis was put on the necessity of strengthening the SEEOS Yo session and residents by attracting new delegates and suggestions for a special professional and social programme for the following congress were adopted.
At the end, I point out that the Congress, through the professional and social programme, took place in a very pleasant and friendly atmosphere. The SEEOS Congress has again justified its vision: exchange of knowledge, experience, cooperation and meeting new colleagues from the countries of southeast Europe. For the ophthalmologists from former Yugoslavia this was of considerable importance and an opportunity to renew old and make new friendships, because although we live in different countries, we are close neighbours with similar achievements and problems.
The next 13th Congress of SEEOS will be held in Bratislava, from 29th September to 1st October, 2016. It will be joined with the 22nd annual Congress of the Slovak Ophthalmological Society. I wish prof. Dr Andrej Cernak, the president of SEEOS for the year of 2016, and the Organising Committee great success in organising the following Congress.
See you in Bratislava.
Yours sincerelly,
Edita Files Bradaric, MD
