june, 2019 | The Health
Current News
From left: Shirley
Loh, Assoc
Professional
Affairs Director,
Vision Care
SEA, Nor Azizah
Ismail, Secretary
for the Malaysian
Optical Council,
Woon Pak
Seong, Dr Oliver
Woo, and Zoey
Lam, National
Sales Manager
for Johnson &
Johnson Vision
Care.
Eyeing a
growing problem
Johnson & Johnson Vision
works with Association of
Malaysian Optometrists to
tackle myopia, a nudging
problem Malaysians are having
B
y 2050, it is estimated that more than 50 percent
of the world’s population will have myopia, better
known as nearsightedness. This frightening sta-
tistic was revealed at the Johnson & Johnson Institute
Symposium on 10th May 2019. The symposium themed
‘Small Contact Big Impact’ brought together optometrist
to educate them on contact lens prac-
tice guidelines.
Optometrists
can make a change
“Studies have stated that by 2050, 50
percent of the world’s population, a
total of nearly 5 billion people, will
be myopic. This may be due to the
change in genetic and environmen-
tal factors - a lot of this can affect a Dr Emma L
person’s lifestyle. However as eye care Gillies.
practitioners, we know that there are
more eye care options available now. Therefore I believe
we can intervene much earlier. If we act fast, I think the
figure will not amass to 50 percent - I wish to see the
figure drop to 40 percent,” says Dr Oliver Woo of Oliver
Woo Optometrist, Myopia management consultant of
myopic prevention and control.
“This is something that we as optometrists can make
a change,” determines Dr Woo.
Are we doing enough?
“Eye care issues are most evident in children. Most of
the times, it’s the teachers that pick up that the kids have
issues. Whether it’s the inability to read or they start
coming to the front of the class,” says Woon Pak Seong,
President of Association of Malaysian Optometrist.
What are actually done in school in terms of eye care?
“There is screening done by the Ministry of Health in col-
laboration with the Ministry of Education. However these
programs are probably done once in primary school and
another in high school. We are currently in the process of
engaging the Ministry of Education with the association
to train the teachers at school on how to spot a student
with eye issues.”
“It’s not dissimilar in Australia. I’ve seen a number
of children who have been missed despite having vision
problems. I think it’s because children don’t really express
dissatisfaction because they don’t know that it’s an issue.
We need to be able to educate parents to be alert in iden-
tifying sight difficulties in their kids,” explains Dr Emma
L Gillies, PhD.
Briefs
Prudential comes
up with Pulse
Prudential Malaysia has introduced
‘Pulse, an all-in-one health app providing
an artificial-intelligence system, live chat
with doctors, and a nifty dengue tracker.
Prudential Corporation Asia chief
executive Nic Nicandrou said Pulse
empowers people to take control of their
health and wellbeing, anytime, anywhere.
“We want the users of Pulse to enjoy
innovative offerings, from global and local
providers, of health and wellness services.
We believe that the convergence of mobile
technology and medicine, can be a game-
changer in the way people manage their
health, and wellbeing,” he said.
He added that Malaysia is the first market
to introduce the app, as the country has
a particularly high mobile penetration and
smartphone usage rates – making mobile
apps an ideal way to reach consumers
especially on matters relating to health and
wellness.
“Indeed, today in Malaysia, some 71
percent of health-related searches happen
on a mobile, while 23 percent of app
downloads are either health- or fitness-
related,” he said.
Pulse is the first app from an insurer in
Asia, offering holistic health management to
consumers across the region. Pulse users
will be able to access the best of Prudential’s
services, with core features presented by
their partners.
The services on the Pulse App include
Symptom Checker and Health Check
powered by Babylon, an online doctor
consultation powered by DoctorOnCall, and
a Dengue Tracker that works similarly to how
weather forecast do, powered by AIME.
Vision Education
“Woon definitely is on the right track. I think more
can be done for our education system - allocating more
time outdoors, make sure there are more mandatory
screenings. Just like how much emphasis has been placed
on academia, I believe the same should be done towards
eye health. In terms of health, people are going for
screenings regularly, we are getting regular checkups
from our dentists but what about our vision?” questions
Jeremy Tay, Director of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care,
SEA.
“Not just the public that has to be educated, but aware-
ness also has to be brought to the key stakeholders. A lot
of times we assume that people know of the importance
of eye care. However I think the reality is that a lot of
people don’t know. Those who are aware however may not
know how to get the best access to eye care,” he explains.
– The Health
Lifting Malaysia to international levels in eye care
Optometrists play an important
role in providing primary eye care
services to the public, and the
consistent standard of contact lens
practice can help more Malaysians
have healthier and comfortable vision.
The Contact Lens Practice
Guidelines (CLPG) for eye care
professionals have been developed
by the Association of Malaysian
Optometrists (AMO) and ACUVUE®,
Johnson & Johnson Vision Care.
The Guidelines will assist eye care
professionals in making a detailed
evaluation and diagnosis before
providing prescriptions for contact lens
users.
07
“I must admit from what I’ve seen
- it’s exciting to see Malaysia’s eye
care journey. From the therapeutics to
specialists, it definitely brings Malaysia
in line with the guidelines I’ve seen in
the UK, US and Australia. It’s definitely
elevating Malaysian optometrists to
international levels,” beams Dr Emma
L Gillies.
“It’s really good to see an industry
partner taking an interest in the
Contact Lens Practice Guidelines
(CLPG) and championing the course
because not many industry players do
on such a big scale. It’s ultimately for
the benefit of the public,” encourages
Woon Pak Seong.
“Malaysia is one of the regions
in Asia that has the most number of
optometry institutions. Currently we
have seven institutions - that’s 200
optometrists a year. In the next 10
years, we predict to have around
4000 optometrists to tackle eye care
problems,” notes Zoey Lam, National
Sales Manager of Johnson & Johnson
Vision Care.
“A lot of hard work has gone into
it - I have been fortunate to be a part of
it. This best practice has been brought
to countries like Hong Kong, Taiwan
and few other markets. Malaysia has
truly come a long way,” smiles Dr Oliver
Woo.
Using their gifts
for a good cause
SMK Damansara Jaya’s (SMK DJ) Leo
Club had successfully hosted a charity
concert to raise funds for the National
Kidney Foundation of Malaysia (NKF)
recently.
In its sixth year, the “From Gift to
Gifts” charity concert has been an annual
fundraising initiative established under the
tutelage of the Lions Club of Petaling Jaya
to aid poor dialysis patients in NKF and to
create a sustainable impact in improving the
lives of its communities. Over the years, the
club has successfully raised RM240,000
from the fund-raising concert.
The Leo Club members, aged between
15 and 17 had worked tirelessly for the
past six months to make the event a
success. The concert featured a line-up of
performances by many talented students
from the school itself.
Over the past 50 years, NKF has been
providing affordable dialysis treatment to
patients who are from the lower income
group. In 2019, it is estimated that NKF
requires RM24.9 million to subsidise over
1,600 patients for their dialysis treatment in
28 NKF dialysis centres nationwide. — The
Health