RANZCO supports Myopia Awareness Week 2023.
The theme “Keep Your Eye On Myopia” highlights myopia management as an essential task in maintaining eye health, particularly for children as they are more likely to develop the condition during their schooling years. Early detection and prevention are key to potentially improving children’s eye health and decreasing the likelihood of eye conditions from progressing as they get older. RANZCO’s position statement on Progressive Myopia in Childhood outlines best practice for the diagnosis and treatment of progressive myopia in children.
Furthermore, the College advocates for pre-school/early childhood screening when suitable to ensure that children’s eye health needs are addressed early in their developmental stages e.g. StEPS in NSW. A clear referral pathway and continuous case finding should also be undertaken as eye screening should not be a ‘once and for all’ initiative. Read the RANZCO position statement on Pre-school / Early School-based Children’s Vision Screening Programs.
As a global and public health issue (high myopia is expected to affect 10% of the global population by 2050), we must continue to advocate for and address ways to reduce myopia prevalence and also raise awareness on how to manage myopia.
Click the image to download the poster.