THE OPHTHALMIC JOURNAL
Glaucoma Awareness Week takes place this year from 8–14 March, presenting an opportunity to reach deep into the community to identify the 50–60% of glaucoma cases that remain undetected.
Identifying glaucoma in clinic is relatively simple; it’s the people who don’t come in who are the problem. In this issue, we have news on innovative programs to reach these people.
There’s an exciting collaboration between Glaucoma Australia and Medadvisor to overcome poor medication adherence through a medication management app within pharmacies.
Also looking to leverage pharmacies is optometrist John Nguyen who is collaborating with a pharmacy and GP practice, to catch unsuspecting glaucoma patients “where they are”. He’s partnering with Melbourne Rapid Fields, one of three innovative Australian companies working to improve glaucoma detection, both in practice and in the community. Eyeonic and Optain’s Eyetelligence are two others. It’s exciting to see each of them gathering momentum.
Meanwhile, Glaucoma Australia (GA), now in its 40th year, has made impressive inroads into growing glaucoma awareness and patient support. Building on its success, this year GA will launch a National Action Plan that aims to “catch glaucoma early, help people stay on treatment, and prevent avoidable blindness”.
Impressively, at a time when resources are constrained, the plan does not require an investment of billions of dollars. Instead, it streamlines systems, processes, and services we already have in place. And it relies on collaboration. Adam Check, CEO of Glaucoma Australia, outlines the plan in this issue.
Glaucoma New Zealand’s Chair, Professor Dame Helen Danesh-Meyer, also calls for professional collaboration, painting the picture of glaucoma prevalence and care in Aotearoa where “late detection is common; adherence is fragile; and equity is uneven”.
Ranked among the top 10 glaucoma leaders worldwide in 2025 and appointed Dame in 2026 for services to ophthalmology, Prof Danesh-Meyer calls for the removal of structural imbalances to enable optometrists and ophthalmologists in Aotearoa to work “in much closer partnership” and with a “deliberate” approach.
I hope you find this issue interesting and that you get behind Glaucoma Awareness Week.
MELANIE KELL EDITOR
In the spirit of reconciliation, mivision acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea, and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today. As a bi-national publication, we acknowledge Māori as tangata whenua and Treaty of Waitangi partners in Aotearoa New Zealand.