The AOC holds a Scientific Congress every two years at a location approved by the BOT. This event aims to be the largest conference for eye workers in Africa bringing together members from across the continent and across fields.

It is my distinct pleasure to invite you to South Africa and the city of Cape Town for the second in-person Congress of the African Ophthalmology Council from 31 July to 2 August 2026.

Building on the huge success of our first in-person congress in Kigali in 2024 and the recent 2025 virtual congress, we plan to bring you a varied and compelling academic program, an unmissable trade exhibition and hands-on surgical skills wetlabs.

Above all, you will have an opportunity to meet eye care professionals from across the African continent and beyond.  New friendships will be formed, old friendships strengthened, and with these the possibilities of closer collaboration within Africa on patient care and research.

The congress will be held at the CTICC, one the world’s premier international convention centres.  It is in the heart of the City of Cape Town, a short walk from the spectacular harbour and waterfront and a short drive from Cape Town International airport.  Numerous hotels in the area will accommodate every need and budget.

As the congress chairperson and AOC vice-president for Southern African, I hope to welcome each one of you in person and offer you an opportunity and experience of a lifetime.

 With warmest regards

 Dr Andrew Boliter

Congress Chair & Vice-president for AOC Southern Africa Region

Deadline for submission of abstracts:    Expired – 30 November 2025

Online registration open:                        Since Jan 2026

Acceptance of abstracts:                          28 Feb 2026

Programme on congress website:            30 March 2026

Deadline for early bird registrations:        30 April 2026

Please click here to apply for AOC membership.

Secretariat

Heyns du Preez

WhatsApp:              + 27 65 540 4852

Tel.:                          + 27 65 540 4852

E-mail:                     secretariat@aocafrica.org

Website:                  www.aocafrica.org

Address:

44b Humphry Simes

Pentagon Park

Bloemfontein

9301

South Africa

President

Prof Ciku Mathenge

Secretary General

Dr Ibraham Matende

AOC Founder

Dr Kunle Hassan

Treasurer

Prof Feyi Adepoju

Executive Secretary

Mr Heyns du Preez

Vice President – Northern Africa:
Dr Michael Mikhail

Vice President – Eastern Africa: 
Dr Abeba Tekle Giorgis

Vice President – Western Africa:
Dr Ogugua Okonkwo

Vice President – Central Region:
Dr Theodat Manga

Vice President – Southern Africa:
Dr Andrew Boliter

Young Ophthalmologist representative:
Dr Anesu Madikane

The wetlabs will run parallel to academic sessions. Cost: Free of charge for ophthalmologists / trainees in ophthalmology registered for the congress. 1-2 slots per person across the congress. Limited spaces available.

4 Types of wetlab slots available:

The final schedule of the wetlabs will be available closer to the event.

The full academic programme will be on the congress website by 30 April 2026. Click here to view the programme page. www.aocafrica.org/2026-congress-programme/

Friday, 31 July 2026, 18:00

Welcoming function

Venue:         Exhibition Hall 1, CTICC

Dress:          Casual

Cost:            Free of charge for all registered delegates (full congress) and 23USD / R395 for additional guests

Saturday, 1 Aug 2026, 19:00

AOC Dinner (Limited seating)

Venue:         CTICC, BR West

Dress:          Black tie / Day suit / Traditional

Cost:            30USD / R515 for all delegates and additional guests

Click here to register ONLINE

Registration procedure

• To assist the organisers, delegates are requested to register online BEFORE 30 April 2026 in order to qualify for the early bird registration fee.
  You are still welcome to register after this date at a higher fee.
• It is your responsibility to ensure that the organisers have received your registration form. You will receive a personalised confirmation by e-mail from the organisers within 10 working days.
• Registrations for the congress can only be finalised once full payment has been received.
• All speakers are required to register.

Important request to companies sponsoring delegates:
An online registration form must please be completed by / for all sponsored delegates individually. When completing this form online, please provide the delegate(s) personal e-mail address(es) and other contact information with the online submission.

Important request to companies sponsoring delegates:

An online registration form must please be completed by / for all sponsored delegates individually. When completing this form online, please provide the delegate(s) personal e-mail address(es) and other contact information with the online submission.

Payment options

Fee entitlements

Included in congress registration fee

• Congress sessions for specific days as indicated in the programme for all groups
  Two-day programmes for the allied delegates (optometrists, assistants, nurses, practice managers & administrators)
• Trade exhibition, lunches & refreshments during breaks
• Welcoming function (if registered for the full congress)

Excluded from congress registration fee (to be booked at an additional fee)

• Wetlabs
• AOC Dinner

Cancellation policy

Notice of cancellation must be received in writing.

The congress organisers shall be entitled to levy a cancellation fee as indicated below:

• Up until 90 days prior to the first day of the event: 10% of the registration fee
• Between 89 and 30 days prior to the first day of the event: 50% of the registration fee
• Within 30 days of the first day of the event: 100% of the registration fee

Click here to register ONLINE

You are personally responsible for full payment of these fees
if your institution or company does not pay them.

• AOC member: Delegate who is a member of AOC whose latest membership invoice has been paid and updated on the AOC membership website. aocafrica.org
• Non-member: Delegate who is not a registered member of AOC or a member whose latest membership invoice has not been paid and updated on the AOC website platform.
• If you register as a member and your latest membership fee is outstanding, the registrations manager will correct your registration amount and charge you accordingly.
• Should you wish to become a member of AOC, please apply online: org/membership

• YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS.
• Please note that there will be no shuttle service between any of the above-mentioned hotels and the CTICC.
• There will not be a shuttle service provided from the Cape Town International Airport to the CTICC. We would like to recommend that you make use of Uber or of one of the other shuttle services.

Abstract submission for the main Ophthalmology programme at AOC 2026.

Before starting the submission process, please carefully read the criteria and conditions below.

• Papers by Ophthalmologists, Registrars and Allied Health professionals will be considered for presentations.
• Inclusion of abstracts into the programme require full payment of registration fees for the congress.
• Abstracts should be submitted before 30 November 2025. There is no possibility for late abstract submissions.
• All posters must be case reports or case series or any other type of scientific study (case control, cohorts, cross sectional etc), not just a topic.
• If you have not received an acknowledgement of receipt of your abstract directly after submission, please e-mail the organisers.
• Authors will be informed of the acceptance of their abstracts by 28 February 2026. Confirmation will also be given as to whether it will be an oral or a poster presentation.
• Withdrawal of an abstract: In case you want to withdraw your abstract after submission, please send an email before 30 April 2026 to admin@aocafrica.org
• Please visit the congress website to submit your abstract online or click this link.
• Only abstracts submitted via the online platform will be considered for inclusion in the academic programme.
• When completing the online abstract submission form, please have your abstract in MS Word format ready to be uploaded. Only abstracts that are in line with the structure and guidelines stipulated below will be considered for inclusion in the academic programme.
• If you have any difficulty in submitting your abstract online, it is your responsibility to contact the congress organisers via e-mail.
• All expenses such as registration, travel and accommodation associated with the presentation of an abstract remain the responsibility of the presenter.
• Click here to upload your abstract.

Two options

1. Oral presentation: +/- 10 minutes for presentation (discussion will take place at the end of the session).
2. Poster presentation: There will be a poster session during lunch on Saturday in the exhibition hall TBC

General guidelines

• Ophthalmologists, Registrars and Allied health professionals in Ophthalmology are invited to submit abstracts for consideration and inclusion in the Ophthalmology programme.
• Authors must state whether they wish their presentations to be considered as oral OR poster presentation or whether they would be prepared to do a poster presentation if their oral presentation cannot be accommodated. Please refer to the online submission link (link to be added in designed file).
• Abstracts should not exceed an A4 page and have a maximum of 400 words, excluding title, in MS Word format.
• The academic committee will make every effort to accommodate all qualified abstracts within the programme. Final determination of the type of presentation to be given and placement within the program will be the responsibility of the programme committee.
• Language: Abstracts must be written and presented in English. Careful typing and proofreading are essential. A programme like Grammarly could be helpful https://www.grammarly.com/.
  If accepted, the abstract will be published as submitted. Errors, misspellings, incorrect hyphenation, and deviations from the use of correct English will be glaringly apparent in the published abstract. Once the abstract is submitted, changes, corrections or rewording will not be possible.
• Images, tables and graphs: Images are not permitted, as they do not reproduce well. Brief and clear tables or graphs are accepted (maximum of 1 page). If the tables / graphs submitted exceed 1 page, those exceeding the limit will be excluded from publication.
• Standard abbreviations may be used without definition. Non-standard abbreviations should be kept to a minimum and placed in parentheses after the first use of the word or phrase.
• Papers will only be accepted on the understanding that the main author or a co-author will personally present the paper.
• Supplemental materials are not required, but you may provide information sheets to fellow attendees.
• Co-authors must agree with the results stated and have consented to be included as authors.
• Acceptance and presentation of oral presentations and posters require full payment of registration fees for the Congress.
• Further acknowledgement will be given where it is demonstrated that the research conducted has relevance to Africa, and especially where someone has gone into the field to conduct research using practical clinical tools and methods.
• Case presentations will be considered as posters and not a paper / oral presentation.
• Where the results obtained have relevance for management decision-making in Africa, this would further strengthen the presentation.
• All participants must disclose any significant financial interest or other relationships they may have with the manufacturers of commercial products discussed in their presentations, panel or written materials.
• AOC will take it for granted that good clinical practice is observed in the conducting of all research. This applies especially to clinical studies involving patients and patient care and includes the understanding that the appropriate ethics committee approval has been secured.
• The Congress Organisers & AOC accept no responsibility for copyright infringements.
• It is your responsibility to ensure that the organisers have received your abstract.

Structure of abstract

TITLE:

• Centre the TITLE in capital letters at the top of the page – use Arial font type (BOLD) and 14 font size.
• Authors should be listed by surname, followed by initials and affiliation (upper & lower case) – underlining the presenting author’s name.
  DO NOT include degrees, titles, institutional appointments or addresses. Do not use abbreviations.

Example:

A PROSPECTIVE COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN THE
SIMPLE CONJUNCTIVAL CLOSURE AND THE ROTATIONAL CONJUNCTIVAL FLAP TECHNIQUES FOR PTERYGIUM SURGERY

Eksteen PJ, Stulting AA & Nel M
University of the Free State

BODY (Arial, 14 font size)

OBJECTIVES: State the main question / objective of the study / hypothesis tested

DESIGN & METHOD: Briefly describe the design of the study and how it was conducted, indicating sampling and inclusion criteria, sample size, treatment, duration of observations, etc.

RESULTS: Present the main results with an indication of variability (e.g. SD) and precision of comparison (e.g. 95% confidence intervals) where appropriate.

CONCLUSION: Limit the conclusion to those findings that are directly supported by the results. Implications and generalisations may be outlined briefly. Do not leave open lines between sections, and do not indent headings. Headings should be underlined.

Preparation of posters

• Click here to download a suggested poster template from the website. It is NOT compulsory to use this template.
• Our suggestion would be to make an A0 (9 cm x 84.1cm) poster (Portrait style). As this is a standard size it is also more cost efficient when printing and laminating the poster.
• All posters should be laminated if they need to be used after the congress. Unlaminated posters might get damaged when being removed from the poster boards.
  (Do not mount posters on heavy boards – these do not hang properly.)
• Please bring your poster to the congress office upon registration. The organisers are responsible for pasting your poster to the poster boards with double-sided tape.
• Posters will be displayed from Friday morning till Saturday.
  It is the responsibility of the presenter to remove his / her poster(s) on Saturday, 1 August 2026 by 13:30
• Indicate the title of the presentation and its authors.
• Use block lettering for other portions of your presentation to add emphasis and easy readability.
• Keep illustrative material simple by using charts, graphs, drawings and pictures. Remember that illustrations must be viewed from 1 to 2 metres.
• Make captions brief, levels few and clear.
• Make posters as self-explanatory as possible.
• Do not be overly ornate or artsy (this distracts from impact of your information).
• Do not make posters elaborate or costly, although it is necessary for posters to be made professionally.

Poster font sizes

• Text on the poster must be readable from a distance of 1 to 2 metres.
• The following font sizes work well:
• Titles: 72+
• Sub-titles: 54+
• Text 30+
• Sub-text 20+
• The actual font used can affect the appropriate font size: keep to a standard sans-serif font such as Arial, Helvetica or Trebuchet.

Annual General Meetings

Saturday, 1 August 2026

AOC Council Meeting 16:00 TBC

AOC AGM         17:00 TBC

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points

The Congress will be accredited by the Health Professions Council of South Africa and registered for CPD points.

Language

The official language of the Congress will be English. No simultaneous translation into any other language will be provided.

Currency

ZAR South African Rand.

Climate

Average temperatures: 16 – 22^o C. A light jacket is essential for the evenings.

Electricity

The electricity supply in South Africa is 220 / 230 volts, AC 50 Hz.

If you are visiting from another country and would like to know if you will need an adapter, please follow this link to get the answer https://world-power-plugs.com/south-africa

Insurance

The Congress organisers cannot accept any liability for personal injuries sustained, or for loss of, or damage to, property belonging to Congress participants (or their accompanying persons), either during, or as a result of, the Congress. Please check the validity of your own insurance.

Special dietary requirements

Halaal & vegetarian: Please indicate your requirements on the registration form.
Kosher meals & other dietary preferences: Please contact the organisers in this regard.

Time zone

South Africa is GMT + 2 hours.