BEATING THE UK MYOPIA EPIDEMIC

Let’s help our children see better,
live better and decrease their risk of future eye disease

WELCOME!
Which MyopiaChat would you like to have? (choose below)

PARENT: I NEED BASIC ADVICE
PARENT: MYOPIA CHAT WITH MY OPTICIAN
PARENT: MYOPIA CHAT WITH MY CHILD
I’M AN OPTICIAN

As Benjamin got older he could no longer see the waves, so dad Tom would push him on and he would surf by feel. Now 17, Benjamin's myopia has stabilised and due to a myopia control device, can now surf huge waves freely. Click on the image to read his story.

Why MyopiaChat’s are vital

By Tom Griffiths | Dad | #MyopiaChat campaign originator

“I was never given a MyopiaChat by our optician when my son was first diagnosed with short sight (myopia) at the age of 9. Benjamin is now 17. If I could turn back time and have had one – and if we had been shown how to have a MyopiaChat with him, to educate him – his sight, and life, would be better off now and in the future. Crucially, Myopia is recognised as a disease. I felt, as parents, we had a right to know that Benjamin had been diagnosed with a disease.

I can’t change that, but I can urge ALL parents to request a MyopiaChat from their optician upon first diagnosis of myopia (short sight) and to have a MyopiaChat with their child … and ask ALL opticians to give a MyopiaChat as a matter of course to all parents upon first diagnosis of myopia progression.

Every day ~450 children in the UK are diagnosed with Myopia (short sight), ~11,000/mth, a staggering 160,000/yr. Educating parents and children on day 1 is not just essential, but a patient right”

CLICK HERE to read Tom’s story and find out more about the campaign

Ask your Optician about your child's Myopia

The UK problem

We use the colloquial term ‘short sight’ with parents, not the medical term ‘myopia’. As a result >2 million UK parents are unaware their children have myopia, a disease which can be managed/controlled if they start early.

CLICK HERE to learn the basics about Myopia in parent-speak and how to have MyopiaChat with your optician

CLICK HERE to learn how to have a MyopiaChat with your child

CLICK HERE if you’re an optician for tips on how to have a MyopiaChat with your patients