Jennifer Lambert. All photos courtesy of Lambert.
It’s been almost five years since Jennifer Lambert joined CooperVision. Now, in her recently appointed role as the company’s first Vice President of Myopia Management and Cornea Care, she’s been a driving force in the company’s rise as a global leader in myopia management. Under her leadership, MiSight® 1 day has expanded its reach to over 40 countries, and more than 50,000 professional organizations and individual eye care professionals (ECPs) have pledged to embrace myopia management as a standard of care.
FDA APPROVAL
The 2020 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval* of MiSight 1 day soft contact lenses for myopia management marked a turning point, not only for CooperVision but for the entire myopia community. “This was the opportunity to bring visibility to myopia in the U.S. market and to use the credibility of the FDA to help drive that message around the world,” Lambert says.
While the FDA is responsible for protecting public health in the U.S. only, the impact of this approval extends globally. The FDA is known as one of the most rigorous regulatory bodies in the world, so it serves as a predicate for approval in other markets, she says. Countries like Japan and Taiwan often look to FDA standards, which adds weight to the legitimacy of MiSight. Although MiSight was available in other countries before approval in the U.S., the FDA’s endorsement further propelled its acceptance and integration among optometrists, she says.
NAVIGATING PANDEMIC CHALLENGES
The MiSight approval coincided with the start of COVID-19, bringing unprecedented challenges for the eye care industry. However, the pandemic also heightened awareness of myopia and its treatments. “As children transitioned to remote learning and spending more time indoors on devices, we heard from practitioners worldwide that they observed more myopia or an acceleration of myopia in their young patients,” Lambert says. This collective shift revealed the urgent need for preventative measures, such as encouraging parents to limit their children’s screen time and scheduling routine eye exams.
Despite the progress made since 2020, Lambert recognizes that myopia management in the U.S. is still in its early stages. In contrast, many countries in the Asia-Pacific region have long acknowledged myopia as a serious public health concern. For instance, China and Singapore require eye exams for all children as young as 6.
“Many of these governments and ECPs have systemized myopia management and made it routine,” she says. “I think the U.S. can learn from these countries that myopia is more than an inconvenience or vision issue and rather look at it as a holistic pediatric health issue that needs to be addressed.”
To facilitate this change in the U.S. market, Lambert advocates for partnerships across the industry. “We need a collective effort among ECPs, professional associations, organizations and parents,” she says.
ADVOCATING FOR A COLLECTIVE EFFORT
A key initiative to drive this change is the Myopia Management Navigator Program, launched by the World Council of Optometry and CooperVision in April 2024. The Navigator is an interactive educational tool designed to promote the adoption of myopia management as the standard of care. This free online resource offers a variety of content to help ECPs and patients effectively integrate myopia management into their practices.
“The Navigator program allows us to be very intentional and effective with our educational efforts,” Lambert says. The resources within the Navigator are customized for practitioners according to their current level of engagement with myopia management. Whether you are yet to embrace myopia management, believe in it but unsure of how to start or fully committed and seeking additional support, the navigator provides materials tailored to each ECP’s journey.
ENGAGING PARENTS IN MYOPIA MANAGEMENT
While ECPs may be equipped with knowledge and resources, many parents are not. Motivating parents to take action in myopia management requires candor, empathy and evidence, Lambert says.
She outlines three key insights for ECPs to effectively engage parents:
- Lead with health: Frame myopia as a health issue rather than merely a vision correction problem. Myopia can have long-term physical, vision and mental health impacts.
- Provide clear recommendations: Offer confident solutions alongside the problem. Research shows that parents are two to three times more likely to pursue treatment when practitioners present solutions with assurance.
- Provide educational tools: Provide a mix of clear in-practice materials and links to third-party resources, such as online myopia simulators and MiSight.com.
JUST GETTING STARTED
Lambert is optimistic about the future of myopia management. She envisions a time when myopia becomes a standard part of pediatric care, along with a broader range of treatment options available to myopes nationwide.
“My mission when I joined CooperVision was to see a shift in attitude toward kids’ vision and myopia management in pediatric optometry,” Lambert says. “Although we still have a long way to go because every child isn’t being offered treatment, I am heartened by the fact that the shift is starting to accelerate.”
* Indications for use: MiSight® 1 day (omafilcon A) soft (hydrophilic) contact lenses for daily wear are indicated for the correction of myopic ametropia and for slowing the progression of myopia in children with non-diseased eyes, who at the initiation of treatment are 8-12 years of age and have a refraction of -0.75 to -4.00 diopters (spherical equivalent) with ≤ 0.75 diopters of astigmatism. The lens is to be discarded after each removal.
