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More Than 27,500 Accept WCO’s Myopia Management Standard of Care Pledge

February 1, 2023

ST. LOUIS — The World Council of Optometry has announced that more than 27,500 eye care professionals and 63 global eye care organizations have accepted the Myopia Management Standard of Care Pledge challenge launched in late 2022 by the WCO and CooperVision.

“The response in just over a month since we launched the challenge has been impressive,” said WCO President-elect Sandra Block, OD, MEd, MPH, FAAO, FCOVD. “Myopia has reached epidemic levels, and we know that myopia can lead to eye health issues that reveal themselves in adults. It is our hope that early diagnosis of myopia and management can help reduce the long-term eye health complications. Taking the pledge sends a clear message that organizations and eye care professionals understand the seriousness of myopia as a public health threat and that they are taking active measures to manage that threat. We are encouraged to see that so many are actively taking the pledge.”

The World Council of Optometry and CooperVision introduced the myopia management standard of care resolution in April 2021, defining an evidence-based standard of care comprised of three main components:

  • Mitigation — Optometrists educating and counseling 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 error and axial length whenever possible.
  • 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 of myopia, for improved quality of life and better eye health today and into the future.

The World Council of Optometry has a myopia management online resource featuring the standard of care resolution, pledge signup page, and practical tools and information for optometrists.

In addition, the WCO is also holding its second global virtual event on myopia management, “Advancing the Standard of Care,” on February 16, 2023. Patients and eye care professionals working in research and clinical practice will share how they have integrated myopia management into their practices, and sessions are planned in different time zones to accommodate ECPs around the world. Register at https://bit.ly/WCOMyopiaEvent223.

 

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