Prof. Istiantoro Soekardi, recognized for his services to ophthalmology in the Asia-Pacific region, passed away on 8 June 2012.
At the beginning of his career as an ophthalmologist, Prof. Istiantoro was charged to head the Indonesian Ophthalmologists Association's Cataract Eradication Program. In addition to directly addressing the number one cause of blindness in Indonesia, the program sought to raise political and social awareness of cataract blindness and general eye health in a country in which, at the time, over half the population lived below the poverty line, scattered across the over 17,500 islands of the Indonesian archipelago
In 1986, he initiated community cataract surgery program run by Indonesian Ophthalmologists Association (IOA) with the support of Dharmais Foundation, which was headed by the late President Suharto. He travelled to the very remote areas in all over Indonesia. To achieve the program's objectives, Prof. Istiantoro extended the program's network to include collaboration with other organizations such the Christian Blind Mission, Helen Keller International and Lions International. This activity reach the peak by about 12,000 surgeries per year before the 1997 economic turmoil.
But the challenges the program faced extended beyond logistics. In a 2007 interview with EyeWorld Asia-Pacific, Prof. Istiantoro's passion for his work became obvious in his frustration as he spoke of the general indifference towards blindness in the country prevalent at the time. His frustration was alleviated only when he contemplated the joy and gratitude of even his most indifferent patients when he successfully restored their vision.
Prof. Istiantoro's role at the head of the program paved the way to his becoming president of the IOA. During his administration, he focused on improving the quality of ophthalmic education in Indonesia. Indonesian ophthalmology under his presidency became more competitive than it had ever been before, especially since he initiated the National Board Exams in 1997. The aim is every Indonesian ophthalmologist should master cataract surgery in order to lower the Cataract Backlog and the blindness rate.
Even after his presidency ended, Prof. Istiantoro remained an active and willing advisor to the IOA. He continued to lecture in ophthalmology at the University of Indonesia where he had been Chairman for the Department of Ophthalmology, for which he served as Professor of Ophthalmology. He had also the founder and chaired the Jakarta Eye Center and served as Chairman for the Foundation for the Advancement of Medicine in Indonesia.
Prof. Istiantoro was a member of several other professional organizations, including the International Society of Refractive Surgery and the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology (APAO) who gave attention on his social activities appreciated him with the Distinguishes Service award in 1996 and 2001 both for meritorious service in Ophthalmology in Asia Pacific Area. He also received IOA Award in 2003 and APACRS in 2004. He was a member of the Board of Officers of the APACRS, and was a frequent contributor and member of the Editorial Board of EyeWorld Asia-Pacific.
