4 steps you can take to be part of AOA’s national pediatric eye health and vision mobilization

Pediatric eye health and vision care has long been a critical issue championed by the AOA and doctors of optometry.  

In 2023, the AOA launched a National Pediatric Eye Health and Vision Mobilization. That multi-year initiative seeks to address children’s access to comprehensive and pediatric eye health and vision care by:  

• Advocating for federal policies and programs that ensure children’s eye care; 

•  Creating an evidence-based playbook for expanding advocacy efforts into children’s eye care; 

• Addressing access to care, especially for underserved communities; and 

• Driving public awareness and education for children’s eye care and access. 

Launched at Optometry’s Meeting®2023, the AOA’s National Pediatric Eye Health and Vision Mobilization would close the gap in care created by access disparities and hastened by the consequences of accelerated screentime usage during thepandemic. 

Take these four steps to be part of this critical mobilization:  

1. Make your voice heard on the issues impacting children.
   What are the most significant barriers to essential eye health and vision care and treatment facing children and their parents? We want to hear from you.
   
   Share feedback
   

2. Join the Myopia Collective to commit to a new standard of care for children with myopia.
   Brought to the profession by AOA and CooperVision®, the Myopia Collective is a new initiative aimed at rallying the profession of optometry and its allies to interrupt the status quo and realize a new standard of care for children with myopia. We invite you to support our efforts to ensure that children with myopia receive interventions that both correct their vision and slow the progression of their myopia.
   
   Join

3. Become an InfantSEE® provider and start a lifelong commitment to eye health and vision for all children.
   InfantSEE®, a public health program of The AOA Foundation, is designed to ensure that eye and vision care becomes an integral part of infant wellness care to improve a child’s quality of life. AOA InfantSEE doctors of optometry provide a comprehensive infant eye assessment within the first year of life as a no-cost public health service. 
   
   InfantSEE Provider

4. Support the Early Detection of Vision Impairments in Children Act (H.R. 8400).
   This federal plan would ensure that every child with a potential vision problem is identified and connected to appropriate eye care as early as possible to receive a diagnosis and necessary treatment by providing grants and resources for states and communities to establish, modernize or improve state-based programs.
   
   Support