Who we are
In 1965 the secretary of the XX International Congress of Ophthalmology (ICO) asked CLAO to organize the first International Medical Contact Lens Symposium which was held outside Munich, Germany, in 1966.
The ICO started to hold meetings every four years and wished to include significant contact lens components. As a result, CLAO worked in partnership with the Japan Contact Lens Society (JCLS), the European Contact Lens Society of Ophthamologists (ECLSO) and the Brazilian Society of Ophthalmology Group (SOBLEC) to put on a contact lens meeting as part of the ICO Meeting.
In the mid-1990’s Dr. Oliver Dabezies put together the “International Contact Lens Society of Ophthamologists” (ICLSO) where each organization paid annual dues to help support the organizational structure. The ICLSO later evolved into the “International Medical Contact Lens Council” (IMCLC) that consisted of these six medical societies as members (the IMCLC does not have individual memberships, only organizational membership).
Our Mission
IMCLC is an independent, global ophthalmology platform for physicians, scientists, therapists and authors with a focus on refraction, diseases of the outer eye and medical and cosmetic contactology.
Experts from all over the world are invited to present themselves via our website and participate in signature events.
Accomplishing our Mission
- Presenting one or more symposiums at the World Ophthalmology Congress or similar Congresses to solidify our role as Educators in “Eye and Contact Lenses on an international stage".
- Encourage our membership organizations to continue international forums at their annual meetings that we actively would participate in.
- Seek out and collaborate with international ophthalmology organizations engaged in training eye care professionals in under-resourced regions.