The Southern Regional Ophthalmic Conference and the Tamil Nadu Ophthalmic Association's 51st Annual Conference, called Chenn Eye 2003, will be held in Chennai from August 15 to 17.

Dr K Ananda Kannan, TNOA President, said the conference would be attended by over 1,000 delegates from India, particularly the south, and would highlight the latest techniques like Cold Phaco, the newest technique of cataract extraction, and Wavefront Analysis of Lasik.

The thrust would be on creating public awareness on Glaucoma and Paediatric eye diseases, he said adding that these diseases could be prevented.

The conference would be inaugurated by former Supreme Court judge Justice V R Krishna Iyer while the Tamil Nadu Director of Medical Education Dr Vijayalakshmi would be the Guest of Honour, the conference organising secretary Dr Arulmozhi Varman said.

Another highlight of the three-day conference to be held at Hotel Taj Connemara would be the facility of Tele Ophthalmology, live from John Hopkins of Baltimore, US, which would be informative, educative and inter-active. 

An exhibition would also be held to showcase the latest products in the field, Dr Arulmozhi Varman said. Symposia, lectures and panel discussions would be held on various subjects.

Dr Renuka Srinivasan of Pondicherry will have the honour of presenting the Dr Joseph Gnandihakam Oration on the 'Challenges of Intra Ocular Lens Implantation'. Dr N S Sundaram of Chennai will have the honour of rendering the Dr G Venkatasamy Community Ophthalmology Oration on the importance of Community Education in the Prevention of Glaucoma Blindness and School Eye-screening to Diagnose and Treat Paediatric Disorders'.

In all, 213 papers would be presented, while there would be at least 30 video presentations, Dr Arulmozhi Varman added.