SAN ANTONIO—This week, childhood myopia experts from across the world gathered in Texas for the CooperVision Forum. Meeting on the eve of the American Academy of Optometry (AAOptom) Annual Meeting, the panel of experts sat down with the goal of seeking ways to help ECPs better manage childhood myopia, a growing epidemic. Because myopia is projected to increase from approximately two billion people worldwide in 2010 to almost five billion people in 2050, managing the epidemic is becoming a vital conversation among ECPs. At CooperVision’s Myopia Management Expert Forum, experts deliberated on the best ways to do just that.

Stuart Cockerill, senior director, Myopia Management at CooperVision said, “Much like we have seen at other major academic and clinical conferences over the past year, raising awareness of and more effectively addressing childhood myopia will be one of the most deliberated issues in San Antonio this week. By bringing some of the world’s foremost experts together in a unique educational setting, we made further progress in finding ways to deliver practical myopia management advice to eyecare professionals.”

Speakers at the Forum included CooperVision Specialty EyeCare Division president J.C. Aragon; Paul Chamberlain, director of Research Programs for CooperVision; Maria Liu, OD, PhD, MPH, MBA, FAAO, the founder and chief of the Myopia Control Clinic at the University of California, Berkeley; Jan Roelof Polling, noted myopia researcher at Erasmus Medical Centre; and independent clinical trials consultant Robin Chalmers, who discussed the safe use of contact lenses for children.

Aragon presented four-year study data that showed the significant impact of a pioneering contact lens management approach to slowing myopia’s progression, while Dr. Liu led the discussion about the importance of a collaborative myopia management effort between ophthalmologists and optometrists. She told the crowd, “A number of additional factors have emerged as critical to managing myopic children in China. These include early consultation to parents of high-risk children, engaging in comprehensive discussions about individualized treatment and fee structures, and the need for manufacturers to help continue advancing myopia management practices through education.”

More important discussion about myopia will take place today as well, including the International Myopia Institute’s inaugural white paper report and Mark Bullimore, MCOptom, PhD, FAAO, will speak about Myopia Control: From Evidence to Implementation, where he is expected to present three-year data from an ongoing CooperVision clinical trial assessing a specially-designed, dual-focus myopia control 1-day soft contact lens in reducing the rate of progression of juvenile-onset myopia.

“Considering the worldwide growth of childhood myopia and its far-reaching impacts, discovering techniques to help ECPs embrace their roles as frontline heroes in confronting this scourge is essential. It’s an ongoing journey to help them understand when to begin and end treatment, how to cooperate with peers for coordinated care, and ways to draw attention to the issue as a public health crisis in their communities. What we learned in San Antonio lets us take another step forward,” said Cockerill.