3rd IVI International Optometry Conference opens in Chennai with call for action on Uncorrected Refractive Error, myopia

The two-day conference – 14-15 October – was opened in the presence of Lise Talbot Barre, French Consul General for Pondicherry and Chennai,  Sarah Kirlew, Australia’s Consul General in Chennai, Narasimhan Narayanan, Country Head, EssilorLuxottica Group, South Asia, and Raghavan NS, Country Manager, Essilor South Asia.

The conference, also available online to audiences worldwide, has brought global and national experts to focus on eye health and vision impairment.

A focus at the conference is on the management of myopia, among other themes such as big data and artificial intelligence, legislative frameworks, as well as human resources challenges.

Research has predicted that the rise in myopia worldwide, including in India and other countries, will continue in the coming decades.

Speakers said since 2020, there has been an increase in the incidence of myopia. If not controlled effectively, it may even go up by 50 percent by 2050.

IVI’s CEO Vinod Daniel said “The conference follows two earlier Eye Health in a Changing World Conferences, since 2020. The international conference, being held this year in the hybrid mode, has become a major event in the annual eye health calendar across the world.”

“Some 1,200 delegates are expected to join offline and online at the conference that will include 45 speakers from India and overseas. It will have 57 paper and 75 poster presentations,” he noted.