CooperVision launches program to improve access, care for underserved children with myopia
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CooperVision has created a multidisciplinary initiative that will expand access to myopia treatment for underserved children in the United States through partnerships with optometry schools, the company announced in a press release.
“All children deserve accessible, quality eye care to protect their future eye health,” Michele Andrews, OD, CooperVision’s vice president of professional and government affairs, said in the release. “We are leading the conversation to identify long-term solutions to overcome access inequity for kids with myopia. Hand-in-hand with several academic partners who share our vision, this initiative represents a major advancement in addressing the childhood myopia epidemic.”
According to the release, CooperVision has partnered with New England College of Optometry, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and Illinois College of Optometry to offer myopia treatment in 2024 to a pilot group in the Boston and Chicago areas. The program is designed to include more schools over time.
“This program will provide vital access to myopia management for children across the region who would otherwise be left out due to access and cost,” Howard Purcell, OD, president of New England College of Optometry, said in the release. “This gift will ensure improved vision for learning and health outcomes in the years ahead.”
The program will offer CooperVision’s MiSight 1 day soft contact lenses and Paragon CRT orthokeratology contact lenses at no charge in its initial phase, the release stated. In addition, CooperVision will conduct ongoing assessments to monitor the program’s performance and support improvements throughout the year, as well as work with researchers to collect and analyze program data.
“If we can collectively determine how to make myopia management accessible to more children, so many lives will be made better for decades — a heroic undertaking with immeasurable impact,” Mark Colip, OD, president of Illinois College of Optometry, said in the release.
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