Johnson & Johnson Vision Care has conducted its sixth annual Contact Lens Leaders Summit for the Asia Pacific region, this time in Taipei. Sixty delegates from the region attended in late September, along with approximately 30 Asia Pac JJVC personnel and five optical professionals from Australia.
Luke Cahill, Professional Affairs Director at J&JVC said the two day conference is designed to provide eye care professionals with an optometric education platform, and to update and inform them on advances in contact lens patient care and practice success.
He said unlike Australia, where professional standards are consistent across the country, in the Asia Pacific region there is variance.
“The market in Asia is more retail driven and while there are pockets of very educated optical professionals offering highly developed lens care within a closely legislated environment, there are also areas where the standards of education and regulatory compliance are not as developed.
Korea for instance, has managed to get online sales of contact lenses banned…
Speakers at the conference included Nathan Efron from Queensland who spoke on ‘global trends in contact lens practice and future predictions’ and ‘the silicone hydrogel lens revolution’.
Dr. Graham Young from the United Kingdom spoke on ‘understanding toric lens performance’ and the ‘eye care professional’s role in growing the astigmatism contact lens business’. Speakers from J&JVC presented on other clinical aspects of contact lens care as well as shopper behaviours, practice building strategies and patient insights.
Gavin Swartz from Abernethy Owens Optometrists in Freemantle, WA was a delegate at the conference. “It was great to meet other practitioners from around Asia Pacific,” he said. “Something that stood out was that although the standard of optometry was different in different countries, we all face similar challenges in running an optometry business.
“For example, other countries within the region share our issues with online contact lens sales so listening to the strategies they’ve employed to tackle the problem was interesting. Korea for instance, has managed to get online sales of contact lenses banned. Singapore has adopted strong laws on competition and consumer protection to control the issue. Their insights were fascinating,” he said.
