Online Desk: Eminent Bangladeshi Ophthalmologist Professor Ava Hossain has been inducted as the President of Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology (APAO) for the next two years term. Prof Ava became the first ever Bangladeshi national as well as the first woman Ophthalmologist who was elected as the President in the 63 years history of the APAO, BSS reports.

APAO outgoing president Prof Nigli Wang from China handed over the charge to Professor Ava during APAO’s 38th congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last week, a press release said here today. Earlier, Professor Ava was recognized as the top 100 influential women ophthalmologists of the world by The Ophthalmologist power list 2021. She was also President of SAARC Academy of Ophthalmology, Ophthalmological Society of Bangladesh (OSB) and Founding President of Bangladesh Community Ophthalmological Society (BCOS).

Professor Ava, who is the first woman fellow in Ophthalmology in Bangladesh and obtained FCPS in 1985, is currently serving as the Director cum Chief Consultant at OSB Eye Hospital at Mirpur in the capital. Her significant contributions towards preventing blindness in Bangladesh and Asia Pacific Region are widely recognized while she has 43-year long experience in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in Bangladesh.

In 2020, she received Honorary Fellow of All India Collegium of Ophthalmology (FAICO) Award as a mark of an outstanding stalwart of ophthalmology. Prof Ava is the recipient of many prestigious international and national awards, including APAO Distinguished Service Award, APAO Arthur Lim Award, APAO Achievement Award, Modasser-Daud-Mala SAARC Award, Alim Memorial Gold Medal and Life Time Achievement Award of OSB, Humayun Kabir Memorial Award of BAO.