The 46th Annual Meeting is held in Copenhagen

From 28-05-2020 to 30-05-2020

Dear colleagues and friends

It is our great pleasure to welcome you to the 46^th EPOS meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark.

In 2017 we hosted the Nordic Pediatric Ophthalmic Group meeting north of Copenhagen, and the experience of meeting new and old friends, learning new aspects of pediatric ophthalmology and enjoying the most beautiful Danish summer weather was so rewarding, and build the ground for the next upcoming EPOS meeting. We are very honoured to be accepted as hosts for the 46^th EPOS, in Copenhagen for the first time since 1975.

We will meet at the top of modern Copenhagen in Maersk Tower. With its 3,300 copper shutters, it reflects the outside weather and the surrounding campus park and city. The tower is part of the historic Copenhagen University dating back to 1479 and over the years researchers from the university have been awarded 9 Nobel Prizes. Among their famous candidates is one of the founders of Pediatric Ophthalmology, Mette Warburg (1926-2015), who was a founding member of EPOG and an honorary member of EPOS, hosting the 1975 and 1991 EPOG meetings on visually and multiply handicapped children. Her influence in Danish and international Ophthalmology is well recognized, as she put the visual health of persons with developmental delay into the consciousness of ophthalmologists, and together with Lea Hyvärinen taught us the significance of early visual development.

We have chosen the topic of “The important first year. Vision 20/20” as a tribute to Mette and Leas ground breaking work in an ever-changing world. Babies develop at exorbitant speed, and largely this is guided by visual inputs. Our goal of this conference is to update us all on the also rapid development of ophthalmological treatment: genetic therapy is now available and preterm born children now rarely go blind due to ROP in Europe, but other health issues threaten vision as very early survival is possible. Surgery for infants is also changing with new methods for treatment in glaucoma, anterior segment and strabismus.

The mission of the VISION 2020 WHO Global Initiative is to eliminate the main causes of all preventable and treatable blindness by 2020, so what could be a more appropriate topic for EPOS 2020?

Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark, easily reached from abroad, with excellent local transportation and high safety. Copenhagen is a modern and vibrant city known for its beauty, art museums, design and food. Absalon founded the city in 1167, and it was originally enclosed by city walls with beautiful historic buildings like Rosenborg (home of the crown jewels), Amalienborg (home of the royal family), Christiansborg (the Danish parliament). North of Copenhagen you find Elsinore Castle (the home of Hamlet), Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Dyrehavsbakken (opened in 1583) which is the oldest amusement park in the world and in the very centre of Copenhagen, the famous Tivoli Gardens (opened in 1843). Copenhagen is surrounded by water and parks, and hopefully late May will greet us with beautiful weather, white nights and perhaps a Viking swim in one of the inner city open water pools?

Thus it is well-founded why Lonely Planet praised Copenhagen as “the best in travel 2019”.

On behalf of the EPOS COPENHAGEN 2020 organizing committee, we look forward to seeing you in Copenhagen May 2020!

Lotte Welinder, Pediatric Ophthalmology, Aalborg University Hospital
Member of the EBO board, MJC-RUD, FEBO.