From April 30 to May 2, 630 exhibitors from 45 countries will be at MIDO to showcase their collections and products before an audience of Italian and international buyers, opticians, designers and journalists.

“After two years of pandemic and in light of the complexities of the current extremely unsettling geopolitical situation – first and foremost from the human standpoint – industry firms have an urgent need to gather, in order to share information and exchange ideas to glean the energy needed to cope with challenges in the coming months – stated Giovanni Vitaloni, President of MIDO. On April 2, we will be at Vision Expo East in New York to meet with buyers, exhibitors and media at the US trade show and to re-establish relations that until now have been maintained only at a distance.”

 The entire eyewear supply chain, from the large brands to the smaller companies focused on innovation and experimentation, will be on display in the five MIDO pavilions at Rho Fiera and in the Fashion District, Lenses, Design Lab, More!, FAiR East, Lab Academy, Start Up and Tech exhibit areas.

In fact, colour will be the focus of the preview webinar that MIDO will hold on March 29, in partnership with WGSN and Coloro, on the digital platform created for the 2021 edition and open to the entire MIDO community. The power of colour in design, with an eye to the S/S 2023 season, will be discussed during the webinar. The complete calendar will be available in the coming weeks at www.mido.com.

MIDO will also be the place to take stock of industry trends and to assess the extent to which geopolitical events will impact not only global eyewear but also the entire economic system. “The Italian eyewear industry demonstrated its responsiveness to the pandemic – remarked President Vitaloni. 2021 closed in the black and we recovered all the losses caused by the health crisis, repositioning the sector with modest growth of 1- 2% with regards to production value and exports. On April 30, opening day of MIDO, we will present the integrated data for 2021 and the forecasts for 2022.”

“Craving MIDO” is also a craving to participate. Applications to compete for the BeStore and Stand Up For Green awards can be submitted through March 31. The former recognizes optical centers that offer an outstanding shopping experience, layout of the retail space, materials and furnishings (Design category), and their customer services, external communications, as well as the history of the store and its human and emotional qualities (Innovation category).

To enter, go to www.mido.com/bestore-award .

The utmost care will be taken to comply with anti-contagion safety protocols. The rules governing access to MIDO will be those in effect in Italy for public events. They currently call for a Super Green Pass, social distancing, compulsory use of masks and sanitization of meeting spaces and objects.
 
Buyers and exhibitors also have access to the digital platform.

Click HERE for the full press release.

A new peer review paper affirms that CooperVision® MiSight® 1 day contact lenses provide myopia control for nearly all age-appropriate children. In the longest-running soft contact lens study among children, 90% of myopic eyes responded to MiSight® 1 day wear with a proportional treatment effect, meaning that younger and faster progressing children receive the maximum benefit. Evidence also indicated a sustained slowing of eye growth over time.

These findings are published in the March 2022 edition of Optometry and Vision Science, the peer review journal of the American Academy of Optometry. Long-Term Effect of Dual-Focus Contact Lenses on Myopia Progression in Children: A 6-year Multicenter Clinical Trial (Chamberlain P, et al.) is now available via Open Access.

The peer-reviewed six-year paper complements additional CooperVision research demonstrating that the lens slows the rate of myopia progression by an average of approximately 50% at all observed ages.

The data also support that it’s never too late to start treatment, as the lens halves myopia progression in older children as well. “Myopia is a disease that progresses over many years, so demonstrating sustained efficacy is critical,” said Paul Chamberlain, BSc (Hons), MCOptom, the study’s principal investigator and CooperVision Director of Research Programs.

The MiSight® 1 day study is the longest running soft contact lens clinical trial for myopia management in age-appropriate children.

Click HERE for the full press release.

Canadians have spent the past two years of the pandemic consumed by screens.

A 2021 study from Western University found that screen time use increased in children by an average of 3.2 hours per day following COVID-related school closures. Statistics Canada reported in 2020 that Canadians increased their TV time (60% of men and 66% of women) and Internet usage (63% of men and 69% of women).

As a result, Fighting Blindness Canada (FBC) is asking Canadians to give their eyes a break as part of the Screens Off for Sight 24-hour challenge, kicking off at 6 pm on Saturday, March 19, 2022. The annual 24-hour event gives people the opportunity to indulge in many activities away from smartphone, TV and computer screens, while raising both awareness of eye health and funds for new treatments and cures for blinding eye diseases.

The event is also about self-care. The Canadian Ophthalmological Society says our eyes benefit from turning off our screens. Between 50 and 90% of adults regularly using phones and laptops experience symptoms such as red, watery or dry eyes, eye fatigue, difficulty focusing and headaches. That’s because on average, research finds we only blink five times per minute while looking at screens, whereas normally we blink 12 times per minute. The Canadian Association of Optometrists recommends the 20/20/20 rule to protect eye health while watching screens: for every 20 minutes of screen time, look 20 feet away for 20 seconds to give your eyes a break.

“Over eight million Canadians live with a blinding eye disease that puts them at significant risk of losing their sight, but three out of four cases can be prevented if diagnosed early and with access to treatments,” says Doug Earle, President, and CEO of Fighting Blindness Canada. “Still, the number of Canadians living with uncorrectable vision loss is expected to grow from 1.2 million to 2 million Canadians by 2050, making it clear that we need new treatments and health policy changes to prevent blindness and restore vision. Spending 24 hours without screens shows one perspective of this reality and how important it is for all of us to act now, offering hope to those who have lost their sight and helping us protect our vision for future generations.”

To join the Screens Off for Sight challenge, visit FBCScreensOff.ca, create a personal fundraising page, encourage family and friends to donate and share posts over social media tagging Fighting Blindness Canada and using the hashtag #ScreensOffForSight.

Click HERE for the full press release.

The Contact Lens Institute hosted members of the eye care community from the United States, Canada, and beyond on March 3 to discuss a persistent question: how can practitioners encourage better contact lens compliance among patients?

The online learning event—Making Contact Lens Compliance Stick: EASY Insights, Tips & Tools—is now available for on demand viewing at https://youtu.be/uFKBtVNUKKE.

Contact Lens Institute Board Chairperson Bill Reindel, OD, MS, and Board Member Michele Andrews, OD, were joined by Drs. Chris Lievens, Southern College of Optometry; Mark Schaeffer, MyEyeDr; Bridgitte Shen Lee, Vision Optique; and Jason Tu, Invision Optometry for the one-hour webinar.

The conversation spanned a range of considerations that could lead to more ideal contact lens handling, including understanding patient-specific variables that can drive poor habits, proper hand hygiene instruction, and the selection of modalities and materials matched to individual lifestyles. Simplicity was also a common point raised by the panelists—a factor at the heart of the Contact Lens Institute’s EASY Way initiative.

The EASY Way (Eyes, Awareness, Safety and You) program was developed to help the eye care community promote healthy contact lens wear and care habits among patients in an informative, memorable, and straightforward way. It includes a set of simplified tips, attention-grabbing infographics, and companion digital resources for use in practices, all available at EASYWayProgram.org.

“National consumer research found the EASY Way’s three steps to healthy, comfortable contact lens wear easy to understand and easy to recall by patients,” said Dr. Reindel. “Our work to introduce the program to the eye care community is likewise proving effective.”

Click HERE for the full press release.