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CHARENTON-LE-PONT, France—Myopia Profile, a leading international myopia education company, is joining with Essilor International to “empower eyecare practitioners with clinical knowledge, skills and practice in managing childhood myopia,” according to joint announcement issued yesterday by the companies. The collaboration will also see a boost to public awareness of the consequences of myopia and will encourage more parents to have their children’s vision tested worldwide, the announcement said. Myopia Profile and Essilor will develop specific educational content to increase primary eyecare practitioners’ knowledge and skills in prescribing spectacle lenses to young children.

This includes getting started in myopia management; clinical communication and understanding the latest research. This content will include research summaries with clinical relevance, clinical case studies, podcasts and resources to use in practice. Content will be housed on MyopiaProfile.com and shared across the partnership’s multiple platforms, the companies said.

“We are thrilled to work with Essilor, the world’s largest manufacturer of ophthalmic spectacle lenses, to increase professional skills and public awareness of childhood myopia," said Kate Gifford, PhD, director of Myopia Profile. "This is the biggest sight issue affecting our children today and will increasingly become an eye health problem for our adults of tomorrow. Essilor intrinsically recognizes the value of education and public awareness as their social responsibility to bring good vision to all, and we share this key value.

"With various optical and pharmacological interventions to slow down the typical pattern of childhood myopia progression, it is of vital importance we educate practitioners and parents to improve children’s sight now and their eye health for the future,”Gifford said.

Olga Prenat, global director of education and professional relations, Essilor International and chief editor of Points de Vue, International Review of Ophthalmic Optics, shed light on the collaboration: “We are excited to partner with Myopia Profile who are the world leaders in globally accessible and clinically translatable education in the field of myopia management. Combining Essilor’s and Myopia Profile’s reach will help educate and boost knowledge-sharing among eyecare professionals worldwide, which we hope will ultimately contribute to widespread adoption of myopia management. More importantly, it will help us promote better vision and eye health for children with myopia across the world.”

Myopia Profile, based in Queensland, Australia, is the world’s largest and most popular multi-platform digital suite for myopia management. Founded in 2016 by optometrist husband-and-wife Dr. Paul Gifford, PhD, and Dr. Kate Gifford, PhD, Myopia Profile has grown from sharing Kate Gifford’s self-developed clinical paper-based tools to a comprehensive website, online learning academy, professional Facebook group and more, with over three million active engagements per year across the platforms.

Myopia Profile’s public awareness arm, MyKidsVision.org, includes a website, short survey on myopia risk factors, how-to video guides, and social media platforms for parents to learn about childhood myopia and how they can seek the best options for their children.