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August marks the start of Myopia Awareness Month which aims to increase awareness of Myopia and encourage parents to take their children for regular eye examinations. In today’s article, we share the story of the Global Myopia Awareness Coalition and their work during the awareness month.
The Global Myopia Awareness Coalition (GMAC) is a coalition of leading ophthalmic companies and eye health associations with a mission to increase public awareness about the growing prevalence and consequences of myopia, especially in children.
The GMAC develop messaging campaigns for the public and works with health care professionals and allied organisations to educate both parents and children to access early and regular eye exams and be more receptive to treatment recommendations from their eye care professionals.
Myopia is more than an epidemic. It’s a global crisis that many parents are not aware of. Enter the Global Myopia Awareness Coalition—a diverse group of eye care companies, eye health associations, and providers locking arms to protect today’s youth from the short-term challenges and long-term effects of myopia.
In nearsightedness (myopia), the point of focus is in front of the retina, making distant objects appear blurry. Nearsightedness (myopia) is a common vision condition in which you can see objects near to you clearly, but objects farther away are blurry. Adolescents with vision impairment reported statistically significantly lower quality of life, psychosocial functioning and school functioning scores.
Focus on Summer
Summer is made to soak up the sun, which is great for eye health—just 76 extra minutes outside a day can reduce the risk of myopia by 50%. But with today’s options, children can easily spend their time off watching TV or playing on devices.
The GMAC’s campaign “Screen Staycation” encourages children to go 24 hours without interacting with a screen to protect your child’s future vision health and reconnect to simple pleasures.
To help, the organisation has created a series of fun activities and information on myopia and the available treatment options. Find out more about what you can do to participate and encourage a healthy break from screentime via www.myopiaawareness.org/
