Tom Griffiths, a Sunday Times Top 100 Entrepreneur-Disruptor who joined Scotlens earlier this year, is spearheading a new campaign on childhood myopia.
Using the hashtag #MyopiaChat, the campaign cites as its 2022 targets: “One million actual parent/eyecare practitioner myopia conversations; UK eyecare practitioners to identify issues with delivering myopia care; government commitment to create a UK myopia strategy”.
Tom’s interest stems from personal experience. Speaking to Dispensing Optics editor, Nicky Collinson, Tom said: “My high myopic teenage son’s life was transformed by ortho-k night lenses. Not changed or improved, but transformed. With freedom from glasses or day lenses, he was able to do so much more – and his confidence rocketed.
“Our nightlenses.com portal is full of people who say that these lenses transformed their lives. If night lenses monumentally change people’s lives, why are they not more high profile? Something is fundamentally wrong.”
Tom is encouraging all in the profession and industry to get behind the campaign, including its e-petition call for a government myopia strategy and funding for treatments.
“Myopia Chat is not just about words,” said Tom, “but it’s about words followed by actions to create positive constructive change.”
Commenting on the campaign, Jo Holmes, ABDO president, said: “ABDO welcomes this new campaign to accelerate action on, and awareness of, childhood myopia. This is an area of ever-increasing importance for the profession – and one which we recognise and have incorporated in our Strategic and Annual Plans to be launched in January 2022.”
Read our Take 5 Interview with Tom Griffiths here, and learn more about the campaign at www.myopiachat.org