This year, the World Council of Optometry (WCO) will celebrate World Optometry Week from March 19 – 25, and specifically World Optometry Day, Thursday, March 23, with the theme “Expanding Optometry’s Role… The Time is Now!”

WCO President, Associate Professor Peter Hendicott, said, “World Optometry Day provides an opportunity for optometry to reflect on its current and possible future roles in expanding access to quality and equitable eye care. This calls for optometry to consider our responsibilities and potential roles within health care delivery systems, to identify how we can make a maximal contribution to reducing the burden of eye disease and its impact. We need to ensure that optometrists worldwide possess the necessary skills, knowledge, and competencies to effectively move our profession forward to better serve our communities.”

With the theme “Expanding Optometry’s Role… The Time is Now!”, WCO seeks to advocate for stronger global access to eye care and ensure that optometrists around the globe have the education and skills to thrive and contribute within their respective healthcare systems.

Click HERE for the full press release.

Specsavers announced the opening of their two newest locations in Ontario: Hillcrest Mall and Cataraqui TC. This occasion marks 50 Specsavers locations – a milestone in their journey to open 200 locations across Canada within 2024.

Specsavers now has over 100 partners who’ve chosen to start their independent clinic and/or ownership journey with Specsavers Canada.

Every location is owned and operated under a franchise partnership model that supports independent optometrists and opticians focus on delivering quality eye care and eyewear respectively, while providing them with the benefits of a global, integrated supply chain with facilities across the world.

Click HERE for the full press release.

EssilorLuxottica and ERG, a leading European producer of energy from renewable sources through its subsidiary ERG Power Generation, announced that they have signed a twelve-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for the supply of approximately 900 GWh of green energy between 2023-2034.

The agreement is based on the sale by ERG of approximately 75% of the energy produced by its Partinico-Monreale wind farm near Palermo, Italy, the first in the Group’s portfolio to complete repowering activities. Following the replacement of the entire facility with latest generation equipment, the wind farm will consist of 10 turbines of 4.2 MW with a total installed power of 42 MW (compared to the previous 19 turbines for a 16 MW installed power) and an estimated annual production of 94GWh (compared to the current 27 GWh). The wind farm is in an advanced stage of construction and will come into operation during the second quarter of 2023.

For EssilorLuxottica, this agreement marks an important step towards its objective of becoming carbon neutral in its direct operations (Scope 1 and 2 emissions) by 2025, starting with Europe by the end of the year, as outlined in its “Eyes on the Planet” Sustainability program.

Francesco Milleri, Chairman and CEO of EssilorLuxottica commented: “At EssilorLuxottica we envision a better, cleaner future where our planet and people can thrive. As a sign of our long-term commitment in this area, we are proud to announce this strategic partnership with ERG supporting our goal to become carbon neutral in our direct operations and to reduce the impact of our value chain. Through Eyes on the Planet, we are contributing to the global agenda of tackling climate change and protecting our planet for generations to come”.

Paolo Merli, Chief Executive Officer of ERG commented: “We are pleased with this agreement, a partnership between two leaders of the Italian industrial context committed to contributing to the decarbonization process through the development and use of renewable energy.”

Click HERE for the full press release.

BostonSight^® officially announced that Lensy, an animated scleral lens, will be its ambassador.

Daniel C. Brocks, MD, BostonSight’s Chief Medical Officer, drew Lensy for his young children to explain his work. His 2D drawing was transformed into a graphic and has been brought to life as a 3D plush toy.

Education is a core component of BostonSight’s mission, and Lensy’s goal is to assist in educating young patients about scleral lenses and PROSE^® devices. Lensy is a quadrant-specific scleral lens, with lens applicators, known as plungers, for arms and legs. Her engaging smile and large eyes make her an exceptionally friendly tool for working with pediatric patients.

Lensy has slowly introduced herself to the scleral lens world. She attended BostonSight’s 2021 and 2022 FitAcademy^™ for Residents retreats, the International Congress of Scleral Contacts (ICSC) in 2022, and the Global Specialty Lens Symposium (GSLS) in January of this year, where she made a lot of new friends, had her eyes “scanned” at sponsor booths, and “listened” to presentations. She has been warmly received by the eye care community, who look forward to Lensy helping introduce scleral lenses to their patients, especially in pediatric settings.

With input from Anna Maria Baglieri, OD, of Boston Children’s Hospital, who fits pediatric patients with scleral lenses, and Gail Windmueller, a Certified Child Life Specialist affiliated with Boston Children’s Hospital, BostonSight developed Lensy: A Scleral Lens Story, a picture book about the basics of scleral lenses. In the story, Lensy follows her friend, Sophie Sheep, who needs scleral lenses due to extremely dry eyes.

BostonSight is running a fundraising campaign called Give (or Get!) the Gift of Lensy. A limited number of Lensy plushies and printed books are available for donation to pediatric patients at PROSE Network sites via the campaign. To Give (or Get!) the Gift of Lensy, please go to www.bostonsight.org/give-lensy.  The book is also available for digital download at the link.

Click HERE for the full press release.