(PRESS RELEASE) ST. LOUIS — The World Council of Optometry (WCO), in partnership with myopia management category leader CooperVision, has issued a Myopia Management Standard of Care Pledge challenge. More than 35 global eye care organizations and 25,000 practitioners have so far pledged to adopt myopia management as the standard of care.
Learn more and take the pledge here.
WCO President-elect Dr. Sandra Block said, “We challenge optometrists worldwide to adopt myopia management as the standard of care. 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 practitioners understand the seriousness of myopia as a public health threat and that they are taking active measures to manage that threat.”
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 available here.