Five billion people could suffer from myopia by 2050, making it one of the biggest threats facing vision. As a leader in the vision care and eyewear industry, EssilorLuxottica’s commitment to lessening the impact of myopia in children is stronger than ever, and partnerships with key global players are helping us make positive changes.
Rising global prevalence of myopia and its related social, economic and health complications make simply correcting myopia no longer a viable solution. The way forward requires real change based on a multidisciplinary approach through collaboration.
Today the Company continues to be at the forefront of the fight against myopia, developing breakthrough innovations such as the Essilor Stellest lens, and creating valuable partnerships with a strong focus on education, awareness and advocacy to help make a much-needed impact on children’s lives everywhere.
Supporting EssilorLuxottica’s commitment to educate and motivate eye care practitioners to become proactive in managing myopia in children, Essilor – as the world’s leading ophthalmic optics company – collaborates with three leading global organizations to truly affect positive change: International Myopia Institute, Myopia Profile and Global Myopia Awareness Coalition.
The Company is a platinum sponsor of the International Myopia Institute (IMI), a consensus body of global myopia experts, and co-sponsor of its highly awaited 2021 white papers on myopia. It also co-authored the ‘Industry Guidelines and Ethical Considerations for Myopia Control’ white paper and published several articles in partnership with IMI to share expert insights on improving clinical myopia management as well as hosted a roundtable with IMI experts.
To jointly empower eye care practitioners with clinical knowledge, skills and practical resources in managing childhood myopia, the Company also partners with Myopia Profile, a leading international myopia educational company. The partnership also serves to raise public awareness of myopia and encourage parents to have their children’s vision tested.
As a founding member of the industry-wide Global Myopia Awareness Coalition (GMAC), the Company – along with other leading industry players and eye health associations – promotes public awareness of childhood myopia. The coalition has conducted comprehensive research efforts with parents in the US, and based on key insights from the research, launched several impactful public awareness campaigns on myopia. Its latest campaign “Little Kid License” has the primary goal of raising awareness for childhood myopia and new treatment options available — beyond conventional glasses and contact lenses — that can help slow the progression of the disease and set children up for success.
Moving forward, EssilorLuxottica will continue to expand its partnerships globally to better understand pathways for myopia onset and progression, advance innovative solutions, and help educate and equip all healthcare professionals to better manage myopia so we can fight this critical visual health condition together.
