Association of Optometrists (AOP) will be warning millions of people across the UK of the dangers of smoking to eye health through an awareness campaign starting July 2.
It has advised smoking cessation as the number one tip for protecting eye health.
The campaign comes as the AOP’s latest research highlighted growing concern among optometrists, 96% of whom see a patient every month that has an eye disease they believed was linked to smoking. Meanwhile, only 18% of the general population knew the connection between blindness and smoking.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), there were 7.4 million smokers in the UK, with 61% of them wanting to quit. To take part in Optician’s Interactive CET module on smoking (28.06.19) visit www.opticianonline.net.