Technology needed for global eye care

Global populations underserved by optometry should have no barriers to technology, heard delegates at the European Academy of Optometry and Optics' conference in Malaga, Spain last weekend.

Delivering a keynote lecture, Professor Brien Holden described technology as 'critical for public health'. Instruments in development at the Brien Holden Vision Institute included a low-cost retinal camera for use in remote areas that experienced high rates of undetected eye disease.

Refractive tests based on a mobile phone, such as the NETRA device developed in the US, were also currently being tested around the world. 'Adopt this technology and use it as best you can,' he said.