Bupa Optical says it welcomes the passing of the first United Nations resolution on preventable sight loss that sets eye health goals for member countries to achieve by 2030.
The goals include ensuring broad access to quality eye care and affordable assistive technologies.
Bupa Optical said the resolution coincides with the launch of its first digital Eye Health Simulator.
The company said the free simulator is able to show users what everyday life would look like if they were living with one of 11 common eye conditions such as glaucoma or cataracts. This helps people of all ages understand what emerging issues can look like before they develop while promoting better eye-health literacy amongst the general public.
The UN Resolution predicts half the global population will be living with a vision impairment by 2050.
According to Guneet Sawhney, the director Bupa Optical and Hearing, technology has a major role to play in improving global eye health with poor vision currently costing the global economy $411 billion.
“Developing tools that appeal to tech-savvy Australians are vital for engaging people in their eye-health beyond getting new prescriptions for glasses.
“Our Eye Health Simulator is a great conversation starter and can act as a first step towards identifying serious conditions such as diabetes by helping users or carers understand how symptoms can present in eyesight,” he said.
Bupa Optical said it has also invested in holistic preventative health technology. This includes EyeInspect that uses artificial intelligence to conduct a high-tech retinal screening compared against a database of hundreds of thousands of retinal scans to identify eye and non-eye health problems.
“It’s our duty to raise awareness on the importance of eye health for our customers and communities, so we have done a lot of work in creating a more integrated healthcare experience for customers recognising that the eye is a window into the heart and a customer’s general health.
“Connecting the dots between health practitioners is key to delivering optimal health outcomes and ensuring people can live long, healthy and happy lives,” added Mr Sawhney.