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Contact Lens Health Week will educate wearers on proper health, safety
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Aug. 21 through Aug. 25 the eye care industry will recognize Contact Lens Health Week, sponsored by the CDC.
In its fourth year, the effort focuses on reducing infections that cause pain and vision loss by encouraging proper contact lens hygiene, according to Joseph P. Shovlin, OD, FAAO, American Academy of Optometry president and Primary Care Optometry News Editorial Board Member, in a newsletter to AAO members.
This year the focus is on encouraging youth to start healthy habits early in their wearing experience. The CDC’s catchphrase is, “Healthy habits mean healthy eyes.”
The collaboration among the three “O’s” highlights the unity that is possible through joint efforts to help assure safe and effective lens wear for the public, Shovlin added.
The program has received financial support from the Contact Lens Institute, a non-profit industry association of contact lens manufacturers.
Shovlin said the CDC is hard at work developing strategies to minimize the complications associated with contact lens wear. The overarching principle is that if patients are educated, then the risk for complications is greatly reduced.
For the past 4 years, in collaboration with the American Academy of Optometry, American Academy of Ophthalmology, American Optometric Association, Contact Lens Association of Ophthalmologists, Contact Lens Society of America, National Academy of Opticianry and Contact Lens Institute, the CDC has sponsored a campaign specifically targeting contact lens wearers and the requirements for safe wear.