Dec. 14, 2023 — The New England College of Optometry (NECO) hosted its inaugural Vision Health Equity Summit to highlight the importance of vision health, how vision loss creates disabilities that result in further societal inequities, and ways toward a more equitable future.
 
Noting that vision health is often left out of health care policy discussions and reforms, vision health advocates stressed the need for health care providers across all areas of practice to understand the detrimental effect poor vision health has on a patient’s quality of life.
 
“Vision is critical to our lives and well-being,” says NECO president and CEO Howard Purcell, O.D., FAAO. “It is a key driver of equity, not just health equity.”
 
Diving deeper into barriers of care, Amy Moy, O.D., FAAO, cited eyecare deserts across the country, particularly in central and western Massachusetts, as an additional barrier on top of insurance and vision coverage, as many clinics do not see eye care as a viable service due to vision coverage complexities such as low reimbursements and how optometrists are represented in medical billing.
 
Fuensanta A. Vera-Diaz, O.D., Ph.D., FAAO, emphasized the need to keep up with the number of individuals affected by myopia, calling it “the most significant vision threat of the century” per the World Health Organization. “With high myopia already being the leading cause of visual impairments in working adults, we are seeing how myopia in children negatively affects them throughout their lives,” says Dr. Vera-Diaz. Lack of public awareness and medical knowledge of myopia has resulted in people with avoidable vision loss who are unaware that treatment options are available. However, these treatments are often not covered by insurance, according to NECO, so patients who pursue treatment potentially face daunting medical bills and long wait times.
 
Addressing the issue of myopia, CooperVision’s vice president of professional and government affairs Michele Andrews, O.D., announced an initiative to make myopia management more accessible to under-resourced children. Beginning in Massachusetts and Chicago in 2024, this partnership between CooperVision and NECO offers MiSight 1-day soft contact lenses and Paragon CRT orthokeratology contact lenses at no cost for as long as participating children require myopia management.
 
“All children deserve accessible, quality eye care to protect their future eye health.” Says Dr. Andrews. “Hand-in-hand with academic partners who share our vision, this initiative represents a major advancement in addressing the childhood myopia epidemic.”
 
Following the announcement, a panel discussion reminded participants of their own reasons for committing themselves to the mission of vision health equity. Led by Michael Curry, the panel included Monica Vohra, M.D., chief medical officer at Dot House Health; Julie Le, O.D., chief of eyecare services at Lowell Community Health Center Eye Clinic; Christine Barber, Massachusetts State Representative for the 34th Middlesex; and Amie Shei, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts. Dr. Vohra recalled her experience as a high myope and how her vision impairment affected her education. Dr. Le shared a story of a patient who believes he may not have spent time in prison if his vision impairment had been addressed. Dr. Shei shared the effects she’s seeing in Southbridge, MA, after the closing of American Optical eliminated physical access to care for many in the area. 
 
Attendees also included representatives from the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, Boston Public Schools, Haverhill Public Schools, the U.S. Department of Transportation, Disability Policy Consortium, MassHealth, VSP Vision, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Community Health Clinics, statisticians, NECO faculty and students, and others.
 
NECO states it will continue to host vision health equity conversations to bring awareness to policymakers that vision health is a critical component of overall health.