UPDATES ON FIGHTING BLINDNESS CANADA FOR OPTOMETRISTS: clinic trials, genetic testing and more.

UPDATES ON FIGHTING BLINDNESS CANADA FOR OPTOMETRISTS: clinic trials, genetic testing and more.
Hi, It is Dr. Selena Friesen.

I am going to tell you 3 quick ways that Fighting Blindness Canada can offer us as optometrists avenues to help our patients.

Make sure you stick around to the end because I want to tell you about a really fun event Fighting Blindness Canada is putting on in a couple of weeks.

Good Optometry Morning.

First - You can register your patients to learn more about their eye condition and to be notified of future clinical trials of gene or stem cell therapy. In the past we would diagnose patients with inherited retinal diseases, monitor their progression, and offer visual aids to improve their quality of life. Now we can connect these patients to clinical trials and research here in Canada and around the world
Fighting Blindness Canada Patient Registry can be found here:
https://www.fightingblindness.ca/patient-registry/

Secondly, you can provide your patients the opportunity to participate in their Young Leaders Program for young people aged 17-30 who are blind or partially sighted in Canada, ……with the tools they need to develop skills and pursue rewarding careers.
Every year the program brings together participants for in-person summits, providing travel scholarships to cover expenses. These summits facilitate interactions that lead to real insights and opportunities. In 2020 the Young Leaders program will be held virtually October 16-18th. This interactive 3-day summit will help patients identify important networking strategies and increase their self-confidence while building their professional and personal networks.

Fight Blindess Young Leaders Program can be found here:
https://www.fightingblindness.ca/get-involved/young-leaders/

As well ——Each year, Fighting Blindness Canada (FBC) selects individuals from across the country to represent them as “National Ambassadors”.
National Ambassadors have the opportunity to attend and speak at FBC signature events, be interviewed by media for television, radio or newspaper, as well as meet others affected by vision loss.
Thirdly : is Genetic Testing

O. AUG 12, 2020 The Supreme Court of Canada upheld the genetic non-discrimination act. Simply put, if you had a genetic test done, the information is now private and can not be used against you. This means insurance companies, cannot demand to see your genetic test information, which could be used to deny you coverage. Or an employer may not use the genetic test information to make assumptions about your health and ability.
The Genetic testing non-discrimination act can be found here:
https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/G-2.5/page-1.html

With modern gene testing, there is a 70% success rate in identifying the mutation and gene for IRDs. In Canada, the cost of genetic testing is covered by all provincial government health plans but require a referral. If your patient knows their gene, they can visit clinicaltrials.gov to see if there are clinical trials for which they may be eligible.
https://clinicaltrials.gov

As Optometrists, we can become familiar with the current Luxturna gene therapy clinical trials through the FBC website.
Read more about Luxterna here:
https://www.fightingblindness.ca/news/luxturna-access-treatment-restoring-vision-becomes-a-reality/

Optometrists, you need to take advantage of these free programs.

As earlier promised… the Annual Comedy Fundraiser, Comedy from the Couch, is a Virtual Event staring Steve Patterson. I have a link below to this event. It is going to be a hilarious event, my husband and I are going and — we look forward to seeing you there
Get your tickets to Comedy from the Couch here:
https://www.comicvision.ca

Have a good optoemtry day

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