BLOG: Pioneers lecture will discuss myopia - the ‘public health time bomb’

Short-sightedness is a ‘ticking timebomb’ for public health and the eye care profession needs to come together to greater understand its potential impact.

That is the view of Mr Ian Flitcroft – who will present the much-anticipated Pioneers lecture at this year’s BCLA Visionaries conference.

The consultant ophthalmologist, who works as an eye surgeon at Temple St Children’s Hospital in Dublin, has developed a keen interest on the subject of myopia and its control.

The lecture – titled ‘The epidemiology of myopia and the public health time bomb’ – will form the focal point of this year’s Visionaries conference, to be held at in London next month.

Myopia is expected to become a leading cause of permanent blindness worldwide, and latest research suggests half of the global population could be myopic by 2050.

BCLA President Keith Tempany said: “Myopia has been a huge talking point in optometry this year and it’s only fitting that it is the subject of this year’s Pioneers address.

“Child myopia is reaching epidemic proportions and in Europe and the USA approximately half of young adults are myopic, double the prevalence of 50 years ago.

“By acting now, and making use of the technology available to us, we can help manage the progression of myopia and ensure the vision of future generations is protected.

“I’m looking forward to hearing Ian’s talk, which follows on from a series of BCLA events this year discussing myopia management. We are blazing a trail in the profession and giving members all the tools they need to really make a difference.”

Mr Flitcroft has extensively published in the academic world with more than 30 scientific peer-reviewed papers and contributions to four multi-author books.

Visionaries 2017 is being held in conjunction with partners Alcon and CooperVision and sponsors Johnson & Johnson Vision, Menicon, Mark’ennovy, Supermax Vision UK Aveo, Thea Pharmaceuticals, Topcon and UltraVision, will be held at The Wellcome Collection in London from 1pm to 8pm on Wednesday, December 13.

A copy of the full programme is available online.

You can register for the event here.