ESCRS ANNUAL CONGRESS
The ESCRS congress will take place at the Palais de Congrès, Porte Maillot, Paris , France from Saturday 18th September to Wednesday 22nd September 2004 . It will run simultaneously in 4 theatres parallel for 5 days.

MEETING STATISTICS:

Expected Attendance : 4,000 delegates
Exhibition: 155 exhibitors

Programme

Free papers: 500 presented in 29 thematic sessions
Symposia : 6 symposia with over 46 speakers
Posters: 550
Videos: 110 videos judged. - 6 winners
Wet labs: 44

NEW this year!

• Simultaneous translation in Grand Amphitheatre (main theatre)
• Day registration - for French ophthalmologists -€150
• Full conference registration fees (4 days) reduced for French ophthalmologists €350 instead of €450
• Visual Optics Workshop

6 Symposia

• Paediatric Cataract Surgery
• New Trends in Cataract Surgery
• Using Wavefront technology to maintain the physiology of the Cornea
• New Biomaterials in Cataract and Refractive Surgery
• Corneal Disasters (ESCRS/ ASCRS Symposia)
• Clinical Research Symposia

Opening ceremony

President's Address
Professor Marie-Jose Tassignon - opening speech - vision of the ESCRS

Awards Ceremony : Awards for Best videos, posters etc
Video Competition
5 Categories
Clips of winning videos

FREE PAPERS:

29 sessions will be run with an impressive total of 500 free papers. All will be 3-6 min PowerPoint presentations.

SURGICAL SKILLS COURSES: (Wet labs)

44 Wet labs - always over- subscribed - attended by 350- 400 delegates

These courses include hands-on experience with best in class equipment taught by pioneers of that technique and leading international instructors. 

INSTRUCTIONAL COURSES:

There are on average 100 -150 people per course

Approximately 2-3,000 tickets are sold. There is a small additional cost to attend these courses.

The courses range from "Basic LASIK steps" to the most advanced developments in ophthalmology.

POSTERS:

550 posters will be displayed which is double last year's (2003) figure

2 prizes will be awarded - Best Cataract poster and Best Refractive poster.

SATELLITE MEETINGS

10 Satellite Meetings will be held over the 5 days. They are sponsored by educational grants from Alcon, AMO, Bausch & Lomb, Moria, Oculus and Wavelight Technology. These meetings take place outside of the official congress hours. They are free of charge to all delegates.

EXHIBITION:

155 organisations will be exhibiting which represents an increase of 50% over the past 4 years.

Exhibition space: 3,000 sqm

Sponsors: Major sponsors include Alcon Laboratories, Advanced Medical Optics, Bausch & Lomb. 

VIDEO SURGERY SESSION

This will be held on Monday. Unfortunately it was not possible to hold live surgery in Paris. Live surgery will take place at the ESCRS Winter Refractive Meeting in Rome (February 4-6) 2005.

ESONT: European Society of Ophthalmic Nurses and Technicians (ESONT)

This was founded 2 years and is growing rapidly as it is the only pan-European organisation of its kind. The programme consists of 2 days of didactic lectures and wet-labs. Registrations for the ESONT programme are already twice as many as last year. Simultaneous translation (English to French) will be provided for the didactic programme and 1 wet-lab "Phacoemulsification for Nurses".

FUTURE DATES

European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons Congresses  

2005
Feb 4-6	Rome, Italy 9th ESCRS Winter Refractive Surgery Meeting
Sept. 10-14	Lisbon, Portugal XXIII ESCRS Annual Congress

2006
Feb	To Be Announced 10th ESCRS Winter Refractive Surgery Meeting
Sept. 10-14	London, UK XXIV ESCRS Annual Congress

2007
Feb	To Be Announced 11th ESCRS Winter Refractive Surgery Meeting
Sept 8-12	Stockholm, Sweden XXV ESCRS Annual Congress

2008, 2009 To Be Announced