May 3, 2021
By Dwight Akerman, OD, MBA, FAAO
The much-anticipated 2021 edition of the International Myopia Institute (IMI) white papers and yearly digest have been released in a special issue of the peer-reviewed Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science (IOVS) journal.
The IMI’s mission is to advance research, education, and myopia management to decrease future vision impairment and blindness associated with increasing myopia. The freely available IMI 2021 white papers include:
- IMI 2021 Reports and Digest – Reflections on the Implications for Clinical Practice, chaired by Professor James Wolffsohn, Aston University.
- IMI Impact of Myopia, chaired by Professor Padmaja Sankaridurg, BHVI, which examines the cost of myopia, its associated ocular complications, social impact, and myopia management.
- IMI Risk Factors for Myopia, chaired by Professor Ian Morgan, Australian National University, which covers all aspects of the environment in myopia development and progression and their role in clinically addressing myopia.
- IMI Accommodation and Binocular Vision in Myopia Development and Progression , chaired by Dr. Nicola Logan, Aston University, which explores the factors underlying accommodative and binocular mechanisms for myopia development and its progression and guides recommendations for targeted interventions to slow myopia progression.
- IMI Pathologic Myopia , chaired by Professor Kyoko Ohno-Matsui, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, which reviews the effectiveness of new therapies for complications of pathologic myopia.
- IMI Prevention of Myopia and Its Progression , chaired by Professor Jost Jonas, Heidelberg University, which updates the recommendations in clinical myopia management.
- IMI 2021 Yearly Digest, chaired by Dr. Monica Jong, University of Canberra, and Professor Earl Smith, University of Houston, which highlights the latest research and advances in myopia.
These evidence-based consensus white papers help to clarify the imperative for myopia control and the role of environmental modification initiatives, informing an evidence-based clinical approach. This guidance includes who to treat, when to start or stop treatment, and the advantages and limitations of different management approaches.
Reading the IMI white papers is one way to ensure that you provide the highest level of care and prescribe the most appropriate evidence-based treatments to children at risk of progressive myopia. I urge you to read the 2021 IMI white papers.
Best professional regards,
Dwight H. Akerman, OD, MBA, FAAO, FBCLA
Chief Medical Editor
dwight.akerman@gmail.com
