Optician India

A Campaign for Everyone: OCI Myopia Awareness Week 2026

Optometry Confederation of India — Myopia Awareness Week 2026 (18–24 May)

The Optometry Confederation of India (OCI) recently concluded a week-long campaign aimed at tackling one of the fastest-growing public health concerns in eye care: myopia. Held from 18–24 May 2026, Myopia Awareness Week brought together optometry students, practicing clinicians, academic experts, members of the public, and industry partners across India, through a deliberately layered programme that spoke to each audience in its own language.

Rather than a single one-size-fits-all message, the week was structured around four complementary tracks: public awareness, student engagement, clinical education and interactive community learning, ensuring that everyone from a parent scrolling social media to a practicing optometrist updating their clinical knowledge found something relevant.

For the general public, particularly parents, caregivers and educators, OCI focused on accessible, visual and shareable content. A social media podcast series featuring Dr. Pavan Verkicharla and Dr. Manoj Sharma examined the relationship between digital device use, near work, outdoor time and rising myopia rates among children and young adults, offering practical, everyday recommendations for healthier screen habits.

Complementing this, an Information, Education and Communication (IEC) poster distilled key messages including the common symptoms, warning signs, the importance of comprehensive eye exams and the benefits of early intervention into a single, easy-to-share visual. Designed for wide circulation through digital platforms and member networks, it reinforced a simple, actionable message for families: regular vision screening protects sight for life.

Optometry students were brought into the campaign as active communicators, not just learners. A Myopia Awareness Reel Competition invited them to create short, creative social media videos on early detection, outdoor activity, healthy visual habits and routine eye exams. Eight entries were received from across India, with winning reels set to be featured on OCI’s social platforms. Supported by Bausch & Lomb, the competition gave students a platform to translate clinical knowledge into messages that resonate with their peers and the public, building the next generation of myopia advocates.

For practicing optometrists and advanced students, the week offered two in-depth webinars grounded in current evidence and clinical practice.

Evidence-Based Myopia Management: What Every Optometrist Should Know delivered by Mr. Soubhik Chel, this session covered myopia risk assessment, progression monitoring, selection of management options, patient counselling and long-term follow-up, generating lively discussion on the optometrist’s expanding role in addressing the myopia epidemic.

Current Advances in Myopia Control Spectacles presented by Mr. Vinay Swaroop Balla, MiYOSMART Manager (South India) at Hoya Vision Care, this session explored emerging spectacle lens technologies, the clinical evidence behind them, patient selection, prescribing considerations, and how to integrate these solutions into everyday practice.

Together, these sessions ensured that the campaign’s public-facing messages were backed by rigorous, up-to-date clinical grounding within the profession.

To close the week, the OCI–Hoya Grand Myopia Quiz 2026 united students, educators and practitioners in a single, high-energy event. Featuring 10 evidence-based questions developed with Hoya Vision Care and run live on the AhaSlides platform, the quiz attracted 456 registrations and 140 active participants from across the country. A strong signal of nationwide appetite for evidence-based myopia education across all levels of the profession. OCI thanked Hoya Vision Care for its support in developing the quiz content and promoting continuous professional education.

By designing distinct but connected activities for the public, students and practicing professionals, OCI Myopia Awareness Week 2026 ensured its message reached every level of the eye care ecosystem from the family deciding whether to book an eye check, to the student learning to communicate that need, to the clinician translating evidence into care. The week reinforced OCI’s ongoing commitment to advancing myopia education through strategic partnerships with industry and the wider eye care community.