The World Council of Optometry (WCO) has announced that the 4th World Congress of Optometry (WCO4) planned for Melbourne, Australia in 2021, will now be postponed to September 8-10, 2023. The partnership with Optometry Victoria South Australia (OV/SA) and the Optical Distributors and Manufacturers Association of Australia (ODMA) will continue.
WCO4 was originally scheduled to be held alongside O=MEGA21, the largest eye care and eyewear trade show and conference in the Southern Hemisphere, in September 2021. However, the impact of COVID-19 and travel restrictions have necessitated the postponement to 2023.
OV/SA President Elise Pocknee-Clem said: “There were a number of factors that made the decision to delay the WCO4 component of the 2021 program a simple one for all three Boards,” she said. “Many private optometrists from overseas have experienced shutdowns, as we have in Australia, and the economic impact of closures may limit practitioners’ ability to travel abroad for continuing education next year. Also, significant periods of lockdown and inconsistent ‘opening up’ protocols could impact the capacity of attendees to commit to international travel in the short-term. This, and the impact on the university and not-for-profit sectors, and the difficulty in predicting the timing for the ‘end’ of the pandemic meant that we needed to act decisively.”
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