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St. LOUIS, May 20, 2021—The World Council of Optometry (WCO) and Global Myopia Awareness Coalition (GMAC) are excited to announce their support of the Brien Holden Vision Institute (BHVI) Myopia Awareness Week, May 24-28, 2021. This global initiative is aimed to bring attention to the growing epidemic of myopia in children across the world.
“Myopia is arguably the most widespread epidemic faced by the global optometry community
and we must increase our efforts to combat this public health issue,” said WCO President, Paul Folkesson.
Myopia is projected to affect the vision of approximately five billion people globally by 2050, more than doubling today’s numbers.1 Myopic progression has been linked to sight-threatening conditions later in life such as cataracts, retinal detachment, glaucoma and myopic maculopathy.2
“We are calling on eye care professionals to take action!” said GMAC Board of Directors Chair, Dr. Juan Carlos Aragón. “We encourage ECPs to learn about the most up-to-date management methods and communicate these methods to colleagues, other healthcare professionals, myopic children and their parents, and the wider consumer community.”
The BHVI Myopia Awareness Week focuses on sending key messaging and resources for parents and eye care professionals to raise awareness. Social media toolkits, guidelines, andnews are available on the BHVI website at www.bhvi.org.
1 Holden et al, – Global Prevalence of myopia and high myopia and temporal trends from 2000 through 2050. Ophthalmology 2016.
123(5):1036-1042
2 Flitcroft DI. The complex interactions of retinal, optical and environmental factors in myopia aetiology. Prog Retin Eye Res.
2012;31:622-60.
The World Health Organization and the International Telecommunication Union have developed "A toolkit on how to implement mMyopia”.
