In the Philippines, myopia prevalence (equal to more than -0.50D) has been steadily increasing each decade, with nearly 40 percent of the overall population currently being myopic, predicted to increase to 60 percent by 2050.
Despite the magnitude of the myopia epidemic, the science of myopia is still young and awareness of the long-term adverse effects of myopia is low. Essilor, the world’s leading ophthalmic optics company, continues its strong commitment in tackling Asia Pacific’s growing myopia epidemic as a partner of the Asia Pacific Optometric Congress 2019.
When detected early, myopia can be managed—substantially reducing the risks of long- term eye diseases. Regular eye examinations are key to early detection of myopia in children. The sooner a child's myopia gets detected, the earlier the child will gain access to myopia management solutions and proper eye care.
To detect and manage myopia in children, it is critical for parents to know that regular eye exams s by an optometrist are as important as basic health screening. It is important for children to have regular eye checks, once every six months. Even if a child has been screened for myopia in school, it’s a good idea to take them for an eye check if they are squinting, having headaches or complain of blurred vision.
Addressing media at the Congress, Dr. John Ang, President, The International Vision Academy, Vice-President, Education & Professional Services Essilor Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Russia, and Africa, said “As eyecare professionals, we have a common responsibility to present myopia management solutions as an option to manage myopia progression in children. We need to act fast, and we need to act now to be able to reduce associated long-term visual health risks, because once myopia progresses, you can't turn back time. That’s why driving the conversation at forums such as this Congress is critical to ensuring that we reduce the impact of high myopia in the future decades.”
Essilor’s fight against myopia
Essilor is committed to raising awareness of myopia and its consequences globally. Research has already shown that a number of different solutions could help in slowing down the progression of myopia in children. Myopilux® is a range of ophthalmic lenses developed by Essilor, and is designed to both correct myopia and help slow down its progression in myopic children. This non-invasive solution has successfully helped more than one million myopic children in Asia over the last eight years. Myopilux® Max lenses have slowed down myopia progression by up to 51 per cent compared to other regular single vision lenses8 . Myopilux® was presented at the Congress with live demonstrations on the proper use of Essilor’s products. Essilor also recently pledged its support for the publication of eight highly-anticipated white papers by International Myopia Institute, which cover a range of topics deemed essential to advancing clinical knowledge and practice relating to stemming the expanding impact of myopia.
Last year, Essilor rallied the eyecare professional community in Asia by supporting the first-ever National Myopia Convention in Singapore and Global Orthokeratology and Myopia Control Conference (GOMCC), the first conference in Malaysia to focus on myopia management. In the Philippines, Essilor has engaged all optical clinics nationwide to provide information on myopia management and Myopilux.
Essilor is providing holistic solutions to correct vision for those suffering with myopia and more importantly, to help slow down myopia progression in children.
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