IGA shares tools for Glaucoma Awareness Week (17-23 June)

It’s Glaucoma Awareness Week (17-23 June) – and the International Glaucoma Association (IGA) is focusing on how glaucoma patients can manage their eye drops while on holiday.

In addition to the regular advice given on the importance of regular eye examinations to help detect glaucoma as early as possible, the IGA has directly contacted more than 1,000 hospital eye clinics and community optometric practices, sharing awareness raising materials and encouraging clinicians to have conversations with glaucoma patients and those who may be at risk.

For those already living with glaucoma and using eye drops, summer travel can be challenging for a number of reasons, so the IGA is encouraging clinicians to discuss this with patients. It has provided a set of FAQs to share with people using drops, as well as a poster on this (pictured).

Karen Osborn, chief executive of the IGA, said: “A lot of the calls to our helpline are about how to manage taking glaucoma eye drops while on holiday, so as we are entering the summer season, for Glaucoma Awareness Week 2019 we decided to share some useful advice on this, with eye clinics and community optometric practices.”

The FAQs can be found on the IGA website here.