World Council of Optometry prioritizes myopia management with education, ambassadors
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The World Council of Optometry is supporting its stance that myopia management is standard of care by promoting a global educational resource, according to council leadership at Optometry’s Meeting.
The WCO CooperVision Myopia Management Navigator is an online resource that guides clinicians through mitigation, measurement and management, the group announced this spring. A team of ambassadors was also appointed to raise awareness.
All of these efforts are aimed at supporting the adoption of myopia management as a global standard of care.
“[Myopia management] is standard of care,” WCO President Sandra Block, OD, MEd, MPH, FAAO, told Healio. “WCO signing a standard of care statement shifted myopia to a disease entity.”
The information on the WCO-CooperVision myopia navigator website is science-based, Block said.
“Everything we talk about in the navigator program is based on good research,” she said. “We’re very cautious about the recommendations we make. Some things being said have insufficient science to support it. We want to make sure the care we provide to patients is the best at the time.”
The four ambassadors for the program are designated as global, Asia-Pacific, European and Americas.
“They will go into the regions and answer questions about myopia management,” Block said.
One goal is to generalize research to more of a global population, she said.
Information on the site will discuss the use of atropine, contact lenses, spectacle lenses and orthokeratology.
“The website will help you know what’s available, so if you can’t get a particular type of lens, you will know what other options you have,” Block said. “It was important as a global organization to not say one product was better than another.
“First, you have to tell the profession how important myopia control and management is,” she continued. “Our goal is education and science-based information not associated with product.”
A recent global survey revealed that uptake of myopia management is better now than in 2019, but still slow. The ambassadors — well-respected names in their region — can advocate for the program globally, Block said.
“Clinicians have a model they learned in school,” she said. “We’re trying to change what they learned. Things are changing. They need to update their practice and stay abreast of the science.”
Block noted that documentation on the Myopia Management Navigator will be reviewed biannually.
“Research needs to be done and confirmed in multiple populations,” she said. “If something changes with what we recommended, we will go back and change it [on the website].”
Optometry outside the U.S. is different, and the “tools have to be able to support the different levels,” Block said. “We can educate groups that don’t have the same level of practice as the U.S. and help them move to the next level.”
References:
- World Council of Optometry and CooperVision partner on Myopia Management Navigator educational resource. https://worldcouncilofoptometry.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WCO-Myopia-Management-Navigator-Release-04.25.24.pdf. Published April 25, 2024. Accessed July 22, 2024.
- World Council of Optometry announces ambassadors for myopia management outreach initiatives. https://worldcouncilofoptometry.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WCO-Myopia-Management-Ambassadors-Release-_-04.02.24.pdf. Published April 2, 2024. Accessed July 22, 2024.
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