BCLA comes to ‘Your Place’ for evening meetings

One of the world’s leading experts in myopia control will travel the UK giving an insight into how to make sure contact lenses work effectively for children. Award-winning Australian optometrist Kate Gifford will hold the events in Birmingham, Manchester and London as part of a series of roadshows organised by the British Contact Lens Association (BCLA). The series of evening meetings, titled ‘Fitting Kids – the facts and future of myopia control’, will give eye care practitioners the opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge of how to run a successful children’s contact lens clinic. Kate, who is based in Brisbane and is a former President of Optometry Australia, will discuss a broad range of related topics on contact lens myopia control: lens designs, outcomes, the myopia control imperative, unanswered questions, clinical cases and a future picture of myopia control.

Meanwhile, Paul Gifford will present a lecture titled ‘The Science and innovation of Myopia Control’. The presentation will cover the currently available methods for controlling progression of myopia, the evidence supporting their use in practice, and understanding the clinical imperative to do so. Paul, who works in contact lens research and development, said: “The growing incidence of paediatric myopia worldwide necessitates the practitioner to hold a thorough understanding of the scientific literature and its translation to clinical practice. Understanding the imperative for myopia control, and the inter-relationship between scientific and clinical innovation, is key to ensure all facets of the optometry profession drive improvements for best patient outcomes.”

Keith Tempany, President of the British Contact Lens Association, said: “Myopia control is arguably the hottest topic in optometry right now and needs to be on every optometrist’s radar. Myopia in children is more prevalent than ever before and as a profession we have to be aware of what we can do to treat it effectively, while incorporating it into our everyday working practices. There is nobody better placed than Kate to share her knowledge and pass on valuable advice to help all of us bring our practices up to speed and by holding these meetings across the country we can ensure everybody has access to this vital information.”

The first evening meeting will be held at the Manchester Museum on Tuesday, 26 September. Subsequent meetings will be held in Birmingham at the Think Tank Museum on Wednesday, 27 September, and Thursday, 28 September at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Wembley, London. All meetings will take place from 6pm to 9pm.

The meetings are free to BCLA members while for non-members there will be a fee of £25. For more information about the meetings, visit www.bcla.org.uk.