In late 2018, a number of companies and associations came together to partner globally to increase public awareness of childhood myopia and encourage caregivers to ask their eye doctor about treatment options for childhood myopia. Today, GMAC partners with professional associations to amplify patient education through eyecare professionals worldwide.
GMAC stands shoulder to shoulder with industry leaders and eye doctors to stop the myopia epidemic.
The Global Myopia Awareness Coalition (GMAC) is a coalition of leading ophthalmic companies and eye health associations with a mission to increase public awareness about the growing prevalence and consequences of myopia, especially in children.
GMAC partners with professional associations and their members to provide eyecare professionals with the tools and resources needed to educate parents and children about myopia, its impact on vision, and the importance of early and regular eye exams.
Never before have so many leading eyecare organizations joined forces against the devastating consequences of myopia.
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The Global Myopia Awareness Coalition is led by a Board of Directors that guides our strategic direction and by member companies that help accomplish our shared mission.
GMAC Chair, Global Medical Education, Vision, Johnson&Johnson
VP Product Strategy & Development, UnitedHealthcare Vision
Director, Global Professional Affairs - Myopia, CooperVision
Global Head of Commercial Strategy, Santen
Vice-Chair, Myopia Special Interest Group, American Academy of Optometry
Chief Clinical Officer, Optometry Australia
Global Head of Medical and Professional Affairs, Essilor Luxottica
President, World Council Of Optometry
President, Jobson Optical Group
Since its formation in 2019, GMAC has launched six successful caregiver campaigns to raise awareness of myopia in children and encourage parents to schedule eye exams. In 2025, GMAC shifted its focus to partnering with professional associations, providing eyecare professionals with educational materials to help parents better understand myopia.
We formed partnerships with allied health care professionals and other stakeholders in children’s eye health and vision—including pediatricians,
ophthalmologists, optometrists, and school nurses.
Two years later, we set out to assess the changes in awareness and existing perceptions around myopia and comprehensive eye exams since GMAC was formed. We conducted a survey of social listening and analysis of Google trends among 1.5K parents and found an increased awareness of myopia.
GMAC launched a global strategy to distribute educational toolkits through professional associations, scaling outreach and impact on childhood myopia awareness.
We tested potential messaging with over 4K parents in the U.S. through a rigorous qualitative and quantitative research approach.
We put the “global” into our acronym and extended our reach across the pond in the UK in 2022 to understand baseline awareness of myopia, short-sightedness, and new treatment options. We leveraged those findings to inform the UK caregiver campaign.
OD, FBCLA – Myopia Researcher, Inventor and Clinical Optometrist (United States)
Dr Med, PhD, FRCOphth, FRCS(Ed), DipMedEd – Professor of Paediatric Ophthalmology, University College London (United Kingdom)
MA, MBBS, DPhil – Consultant Ophthalmologist, Mater Misericordiae Hospital; Adjunct Professor of Vision Science, Technological University Dublin; Co-Founder, Ocumetra (Ireland)
MD, FRCOphth, MMed (Ophth), GDFM, BEng (First Class Honours) – President, Myopia Society of Singapore; Clinical Director, Myopia Service, and Consultant Ophthalmologist, Singapore National Eye Centre; Clinical Assistant Professor, Duke-NUS Medical School (Singapore)
OD, MSc, FBCLA, Co-founder of National Institute of Vision, co-founder of visual health program of SOLCIOE in Spain; Chief Clinical Officer at Promethei. IMI ambassador.
PhD, BAppSc (Optom) Hons, GCOT, FBCLA, FIACLE, FCCLSA, FAAO – Optometrist, Clinician-Scientist and Co-Founder and Director of Myopia Profile (Australia)
