Contact lens guidelines available to public by year-end

Contact Lens Practice Guidelines for eyecare professionals certified by the Malaysian Optical Council (MOC) have been developed by the Association of Malaysian Optometrists (AMO).

AMO president Murphy Chan said the guidelines are put in place to protect consumers from substandard lenses which were readily available from illegal sources.

"With help from the Health Ministry, we hope the current enforcement team will monitor and act on any malpractices, hence will uplift the standard of eye care in Malaysia," he said in his speech at the 'Jom Jumpa Optometris!' roadshow held here Saturday.

The guidelines will assist eyecare professionals in making a detailed evaluation and diagnosis before providing prescriptions for contact lens users. They cover four crucial steps in the usage of contact lens.

The guidelines which include contact lens fitting procedure, contact lens dispensing procedure, contact lens after-care check-up and contact lens replenishing procedure will be made available to the public by year-end.

Also present to officate the ceremony was Health Ministry's director of medical practice division Dr Ahmad Razid Salleh.

In a statement released by AMO, he said in recent years, Malaysians had been exposed to eye problems related to the use of counterfeit contact lenses.

"Consumers are ignorant to the hazards surrounding counterfeit lenses and there is a need to create awareness on the dangers of these lenses," he said. -- Bernama