- Email: [email protected]
China initiative by Ciba Vision
Gerald E. Lowther, OD, PhD, co-editor
CL Commentary ELSEVIFR
China Initiative
Ciba Vision just announced that they are launching a $3 million contact lens education program in China starting in 1996. The program is jointly funded by Ciba Vision and the Ciba-Geigy Foundation for Cooperation with Developing Countries. The stated purpose of this program is to contribute significantly to the training of eye care professionals in China and to safeguard the eye health of Chinese contact lens wearers. Obviously China represents a very large potential contact lens market; however, this market can not be realized without a significant number of trained eye care practitioners to fit and care for these patients. A significant investment has already been made in efforts to improve the training of Chinese practitioners and to increase the number of trained individuals through the International
Association of Contact Lens Educators (IACLE) and the Cornea1 and Contact Lens Research Unit (CCLRU) in Australia. Several companies have contributed funds for this purpose, particularly Bausch and Lomb. Considering the size of rhe country these efforts must be increased many times over. According to Dr. C. Glen Bradley, chief executive officer of the Ciba Vie sion Group: “Roughly one out of every two Chinese require vision correction for myopia. We want to increase vision care options for those individuals and raise the quality of that care by helping expand the body of trained personnel qualified to deliver it.” Ciba Vision’s program will be implemented through universities and teaching hospitals in cities throughout China. Their intention is to gain support from
Abstracts Upcoming issues of ICLC will feature an abstracts section that will include concise summaries of recent articles from the worldwide literature. The topics will be of interest to contact lens practitioners and researchers. We are fortunate to have Jennifer P. Craig, a Post Doctoral Research Fellow, and Kenny J. Blades, a Post Grad-
by Ciba Vision
Section
uate Research Student, writing the abstracts. They are affiliated with the Department of Vision Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, Scotland which has become one of the outstanding clinical research institutions in vision. They can draw upon the library resources of their institution as well as their interactions with
ICLC, Vol. 23, January/February, 1996 0 Elsevier Science Inc. 1996 655 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10010
the Chinese Health Ministry. Initial efforts will focus on a 6-month training program designed to establish a base of 50 qualified contact lens educators, 5 at each of 10 educational centers. With the tremendous population of China and its relatively late entry into the contact lens field, efforts of this type are to be applauded. Obviously it is financially advantageous for the companies to upgrade the level of training of eye care professionals in China, but at the same time the quality of life of a large number of individuals will improve. I hope this program will be an example of a cooperative effort between industry and developed educational institutions worldwide in improving eye care in general and contact lenses in particular.
the European community and worldwide experiences. They will be providing clinical implications of the articles they abstract+ They will be glad to receive any comments or suggestions that you the reader may have conceming the abstract section. We look forward to their contribution.
0892-8967/$15.00&6J$15.00 SSDI 0892-8967(95)00114-X
CL Commentary ELSEVIFR
China Initiative
Ciba Vision just announced that they are launching a $3 million contact lens education program in China starting in 1996. The program is jointly funded by Ciba Vision and the Ciba-Geigy Foundation for Cooperation with Developing Countries. The stated purpose of this program is to contribute significantly to the training of eye care professionals in China and to safeguard the eye health of Chinese contact lens wearers. Obviously China represents a very large potential contact lens market; however, this market can not be realized without a significant number of trained eye care practitioners to fit and care for these patients. A significant investment has already been made in efforts to improve the training of Chinese practitioners and to increase the number of trained individuals through the International
Association of Contact Lens Educators (IACLE) and the Cornea1 and Contact Lens Research Unit (CCLRU) in Australia. Several companies have contributed funds for this purpose, particularly Bausch and Lomb. Considering the size of rhe country these efforts must be increased many times over. According to Dr. C. Glen Bradley, chief executive officer of the Ciba Vie sion Group: “Roughly one out of every two Chinese require vision correction for myopia. We want to increase vision care options for those individuals and raise the quality of that care by helping expand the body of trained personnel qualified to deliver it.” Ciba Vision’s program will be implemented through universities and teaching hospitals in cities throughout China. Their intention is to gain support from
Abstracts Upcoming issues of ICLC will feature an abstracts section that will include concise summaries of recent articles from the worldwide literature. The topics will be of interest to contact lens practitioners and researchers. We are fortunate to have Jennifer P. Craig, a Post Doctoral Research Fellow, and Kenny J. Blades, a Post Grad-
by Ciba Vision
Section
uate Research Student, writing the abstracts. They are affiliated with the Department of Vision Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, Scotland which has become one of the outstanding clinical research institutions in vision. They can draw upon the library resources of their institution as well as their interactions with
ICLC, Vol. 23, January/February, 1996 0 Elsevier Science Inc. 1996 655 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10010
the Chinese Health Ministry. Initial efforts will focus on a 6-month training program designed to establish a base of 50 qualified contact lens educators, 5 at each of 10 educational centers. With the tremendous population of China and its relatively late entry into the contact lens field, efforts of this type are to be applauded. Obviously it is financially advantageous for the companies to upgrade the level of training of eye care professionals in China, but at the same time the quality of life of a large number of individuals will improve. I hope this program will be an example of a cooperative effort between industry and developed educational institutions worldwide in improving eye care in general and contact lenses in particular.
the European community and worldwide experiences. They will be providing clinical implications of the articles they abstract+ They will be glad to receive any comments or suggestions that you the reader may have conceming the abstract section. We look forward to their contribution.
0892-8967/$15.00&6J$15.00 SSDI 0892-8967(95)00114-X