CooperVision is bolstering its activity to reduce the impact of global myopia by committing funding over five years to support a recently announced initiative from the American Academy of Ophthalmology and partnering with the World Council of Optometry (WCO).
The company also supports collaborative efforts including programs from the Global Myopia Awareness Coalition and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness.
The American Academy of Ophthalmology initiative aims to protect children from the vision threatening consequences of high myopia by raising awareness of the increasing number of children at risk of developing high myopia and the effectiveness of new interventions to slow this common eye condition, so the worst consequences may be avoided.
The resulting action plan is focussed on education, research, public health and advocacy. Its components are designed to educate the health care community, policy makers, and the public about the challenges created by myopia progression, the value of outdoor time and early diagnosis.
CooperVision’s global partnership with WCO aims to raise awareness of myopia progression and encourage optometrists to embrace a standard of care to manage the condition.
The joint initiative’s standard of care definition and promotion will be centred on evidencedbased approaches without bias toward any particular treatment methodologies. A global resource that includes multi-lingual myopia management resources and programming, among other elements, will be made available to all sectors and countries including those that may not previously have had access.
