PRESS RELEASE
Tuesday, July 22, 2019
BCLA webinar will put myopia management under the microscope

An eagerly anticipated BCLA webinar will look at the factors preventing eye care practitioners from fully engaging with myopia management while examining ‘real world’ experiences to look at ways it can be integrated into everyday clinical practice.

The webinar, entitled ‘Myopia Management: Incentives and Impediments’, will be presented Dr Manbir Nagra and Gillian Bruce at 6.30pm on Monday, October 7.

Myopia has doubled in the UK in the past 50 years1 and increases the risk of sight threatening disorders such as glaucoma, cataract, retinal holes and tears and a type of macular degeneration that is a leading cause of visual impairment2, which sadly is untreatable.
By 2020, it is estimated there will be 2.6 billion myopes in the world. This is likely to reach five billion by 2050, nearly half the world’s population3.
The presenters said: “In recent years the field of myopia management has generated a great deal of interest from both practitioners and industry alike.  While the availability of myopia management products has steadily increased, a number of obstacles may still stand in the way of practitioners fitting them in practice.

“In this webinar we will consider the factors impeding myopia management by practitioners and we will use case histories to demonstrate how practitioners can tackle obstacles and integrate myopia management into clinical practice.”

Manbir Nagra works as a Reader in Optometry at the University of Portsmouth and continues to provide consultancy within the optical sector. She is also current chair of British and Irish University and College Contact Lens Educators (BUCCLE).
 
Gillian Bruce is the clinical lead optometrist at Cameron Optometry, an independent specialist contact lens practice in Edinburgh, providing the hospital contact lens service for Lothian region. Gillian developed the myopia management service for the practice in 2015 and continues to oversee its growth. 

The webinar follows the announcement of the forthcoming BCLA certificate in myopia management – due to be launched later this year. The online course will feature six narrated lectures and will include the latest evidence-based research presented in an easily accessible format to allow the learning to be shared and adopted by practice staff. 

The lectures will be delivered by a panel of renowned myopia management experts from around the world, including Gillian Bruce, Professor Pauline Cho, Professor Ian Flitcroft, Dr Nicola Logan, Prof Kathryn Saunders and Professor Jeff Walline.


Notes to editors
• For further information, or to arrange further interviews, please call Daniel Owens from Orange Juice Communications on 07909 916668 or email [email protected]
• 1 McCullough SJ, O’Donoghue L, Saunders KJ (2016) Six Year Refractive Change among White Children and Young Adults: Evidence for Significant Increase in Myopia among White UK Children. PLoS ONE 11(1): e0146332. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0146332
• 2 Causes of visual impairment in people aged 75 years and older in Britain: Evans et al Br J Ophthalmology March 2004  and Flitcroft, Ian. (2012). The complex interactions of retinal, optical and environmental factors in myopia aetiology. Progress in retinal and eye research. 31. 622-60. 10.1016/j.preteyeres.2012.06.004.  
• 3 Global Prevalence of Myopia and High Myopia and Temporal Trends from 2000 through 2050: Holden et al Ophthalmology 2016;123:1036-1042 a 2016 by the American Academy of Ophthalmology.