The World Council of Optometry (WCO) and CooperVision have delivered on their promise, made in March this year, to jointly develop an easy-to-use online resource that provides multilingual assets and approaches to myopia management. The aim is to enable busy eye care professionals – regardless of geographic location – to apply a standard of care to manage the condition.
“This online resource provides eye care practitioners from anywhere in the world access to the information they need to implement a standard of care to treat or manage a patient’s myopia progression,” said Paul Folkesson, president, World Council of Optometry. “Thanks to the support of CooperVision, information regarding the treatment of myopia is more accessible than ever before. This is just the start as we work to provide more materials and educational programming through this collaborative partnership.”
The site is organised around the three main pillars of the evidence-based standard of care… mitigation, measurement and management
Three Pillars
The myopia online resource was developed to serve as a valuable point to provide information that has not been easily accessible and provide a forum to encourage the exchange of knowledge and experiences within the global optometric community. The site is organised around the three main pillars of the evidence-based standard of care unanimously adopted by the WCO Board of Directors; mitigation, measurement and management.
Mitigation
Optometrists educating and counselling parents and children, during early and regular eye exams, on lifestyle, dietary, and other factors to prevent or delay the onset of myopia,
Measurement
Optometrists evaluating the status of a patient during regular comprehensive vision and eye health exams, such as measuring refractive eorr and axial length whenever possible, and
Management
Optometrists addressing patients’ needs of today by correcting myopia, while also providing evidence-based interventions (e.g. contact lenses, spectacles, pharmaceuticals) that slow the progression for myopia, for improved quality of life and better eye health today and into the future.
Each pillar provides a listing of papers and studies that have been distilled into one-page ‘Myopia Moments’ that are available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. Visitors to the site can download a Myopia Moment – giving them evidence-based guidance about providing care to a patient – or they can learn more by accessing the many papers and studies that have been aggregated from independent third-party sources.
Pursuit of a Mission
WCO and CooperVision announced their global partnership to raise awareness of myopia progression and encourage optometrists to embrace a standard of care to manage the condition in March of this year. Shortly after that announcement, the WCO Board of Directors unanimously approved a resolution advising optometrists to incorporate a standard of care for myopia management within their practices. The launch of the myopia management online resource is the next step to provide eye care practitioners with the information, knowledge and guidance needed to establish a standard of care in their practice.
“The World Council of Optometry’s mission is to facilitate the development of optometry around the world and support optometrists in promoting eye health and vision care as a human right through advocacy, education policy development and humanitarian outreach,” said Folkesson. “There is no better example of the WCO carrying out this mission than our effort to address the childhood epidemic of myopia. We need eye care professional to embrace the support, resources and platform WCO is providing so they can start implementing a standard of care in their practices to treat this condition.”
