Sixty-three global eye care organizations and more than 25,700 practitioners have accepted the World Council of Optometry (WCO) Myopia Management Standard of Care Pledge challenge. WCO and myopia management category leader CooperVision issued the challenge for eye care professionals worldwide to adopt myopia management as the standard of care and take the pledge.
WCO President-elect Sandra Block, OD, said, “The response in just over a month since we launched the challenge has been impressive. 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 eye care professionals understand the seriousness of myopia as a public health threat and that they are taking active measures to manage that threat. We are encouraged to see that so many are actively taking the pledge.”
Learn more and take the pledge here. 
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, the “take the pledge” signup page and practical tools and information for optometrists available here.
WCO is holding its second global virtual event on myopia management, “Advancing the Standard of Care,” on February 16, 2023. Hear directly from patients and eye care professionals working in research and clinical practice on how they have integrated myopia management into their practices. Sessions are planned in different time zones to suit your schedule. Register here.
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