Month: April 2014

About one in 3,500 people are affected with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a disease of the retina’s visual cells that eventually leads to blindness. Now, a University of Missouri researcher has identified a genetic link between cats and humans for two different forms of RP. This discovery will help scientists develop gene-based therapies that will benefit both cats and humans.

“The same genetic mutations that cause retinal blindness in humans also cause retinal blindness in cats,” said Kristina Narfstrom, the Ruth M. Kraeuchi-Missouri Professor in Veterinary Ophthalmology in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine. “Now, cats with these mutations can be used as important animal models to evaluate the efficiency of gene therapy. In addition, the eye is an ideal organ to use as we examine the potential of gene replacement intervention because it offers an accessible and confined environment.”

Researchers examined the genetic mutations in two groups of cats; one with a congenital form of RP and another with a late-onset form and were able to identify the genes responsible for both forms of the disease in cats. In the study, researchers found that cats with the late-onset form of the disease have a mutation in the CEP290 gene, which is the same mutation found in humans with Joubert syndrome and Leber’s congenital amaurosis. In both of these diseases, the genetic mutations result in changes in the function and structure of the photoreceptors. A photoreceptor is a nerve cell found in the eye’s retina that is capable of phototransduction, or the process by which light is converted into electrical signals. The changes in the photoreceptors result in cell death, which lead to blindness.

“Cats are excellent models because they have relatively large eyes that are comparable to those of human babies. The retinal changes that occur and the progression to blindness in cats is similar to what happens in the human disease,” Narfstrom said. “As a surgeon, I can use the same treatment methods and tools in cats that they use in humans.”

Human autosomal recessive RP is among the most common cause of retinal degeneration and blindness, with no therapeutic intervention available. Initially it leads to night blindness, then loss of peripheral vision and, with progression, there is also a loss of central vision.

Like humans, Abyssinian cats with the CEP290 mutation have normal vision at birth but develop early changes in the interior of their eyes by the time they are approximately 2 years old. The cats with the congenital form of the disease are blind from birth with severe changes in the interior of their eyes after only a couple of months.

Notes:

In May, Narfstrom will present her latest findings during the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology 2009 Annual Meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. An earlier study, “Mutation in CEP290 Discovered for Cat Model of Human Retinal Degeneration,” was published in the Journal of Heredity.

Source: Kelsey Jackson

University of Missouri-Columbia

Dr. Marilyn Miller, professor of ophthalmology at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, was awarded the Howe Medal by the American Ophthalmology Society, the specialty’s premier professional society.

The Howe Medal is awarded for long years of devotion to the science of ophthalmology. First awarded in 1922, the award denotes distinguished service to ophthalmology and has had only 75 recipients.

In addition to her clinical and research work in pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus at UIC, where she was the first woman head of ophthalmology, Miller’s research interests have taken her far afield. Her research in congenital anomalies and teratogens, drugs that cause abnormal fetal development, led her to Sweden, where she was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Gutenberg. Her studies currently take her to South America, where she is studying the effects of a drug called misoprostol that can cause anomalies in the eye.

Miller has also been involved in international humanitarian work. She has visited a clinic in Nigeria every year for over 25 years, after having been invited there during her residency at UIC by the then chairman of ophthalmology, Dr. James McDonald, who was involved in founding the clinic. In the first years, Miller said, they would see and treat patients, but as medical resources in that country have improved, most of their time is now spent teaching and lecturing.

Miller has been the recipient of many grants and has written numerous papers on eye movement disorders and ocular malformations. Her work has taken her to projects in Italy and India, in addition to her research in Sweden, South America, and the U.S.

She has served on advisory boards including the Advisory Committee of the World Health Organization, the Medical Advisory Board of the Division of Specialized Care for Children in Illinois, the American Board of Ophthalmology and the Advisory Board of the Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Miller was the first woman president of both the American Society of Ophthalmologists and American Association of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabimus. She was the American Academy of Ophthalmology representative to the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness for many years.

Miller is only the third woman to receive the Howe Medal. The first woman to receive the award, Georgiana Dvorak-Theobald, was a graduate of the Illinois College of Physicians & Surgeons (which became the UIC College of Medicine) and spent her career as an ophthalmologist at the university.
A native of the Chicago area, Miller is a graduate of Purdue University and obtained her medical degree and clinical training in ophthalmology at UIC. She currently lives in Chicago with her husband, Dr. Ronald Fishman, a retired ophthalmologist. They have seven children between them and eight grandchildren.

The American Ophthalmology Society presented Miller with the award at their 2010 annual meeting.

Source: University of Illinois at Chica

Use of the medication tamsulosin to treat male urination difficulties within two weeks of cataract surgery is associated with an increased risk of serious postoperative ophthalmic adverse events such as retinal detachment or lost lens, according to a study in the May 20 issue of JAMA.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH; enlarged prostate) affects nearly 3 of 4 men by the age of 70 years, with symptoms of BPH including urination difficulties. A commonly prescribed medication for BPH is tamsulosin, which accounted for more than $1 billion in sales in 2007, according to background information in the article. Some research has suggested that this drug may increase the risk of complications, such as intraoperative floppy iris syndrome (IFIS) during cataract surgery, a procedure that approximately 5 percent of elderly U.S. residents undergo every year. “However, few studies have been large enough to assess the connection between tamsulosin exposure and postoperative complications,” the authors write.

Chaim M. Bell, M.D., Ph.D., of St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Canada, and colleagues conducted a large, population-based analysis of postoperative adverse events experienced by patients who were prescribed tamsulosin or other alpha-blockers at the time of cataract surgery. Using linked health care databases from Ontario, Canada, the study included 96,128 men, age 66 years or older, who had cataract surgery between 2002 and 2007.

Of the patients in the study, 3,550 (3.7 percent) had recent (within 14 days of cataract surgery) exposure to tamsulosin and 1,006 (1.1 percent) had previous (more than 14 days before cataract surgery) exposure to tamsulosin. There were 7,426 patients (7.7 percent) who had recent exposure to other alpha-blocking medications and 1,683 (1.1 percent) who had previous exposure. The researchers identified 284 case patients (0.3 percent) who experienced an adverse event in the 14 days after surgery. Of these 284 cases, 175 had a procedure for lost lens or lens fragment, 35 for retinal detachment, and 26 had both. One hundred had suspected endophthalmitis (inflammation within or around the eye). Of the 284 cases, 280 were matched to 1,102 control patients.

In the analysis of adverse events following cataract surgery, patients who received tamsulosin in the 14 days before surgery had a 2.3 times higher risk of a serious adverse event (7.5 percent vs. 2.7 percent of controls). For patients prescribed other alpha-blockers, 7.5 percent of case patients and 8.0 percent of control patients received the medication in the 14 days preceding surgery. Those who had previous exposure to tamsulosin were not at elevated risk for complications, as where patients who had previous exposure to other alpha-blockers.

“We believe that this is the first large study with an adequate study design to describe this effect [that tamsulosin exposure is associated with an increased risk of postoperative complications] and provide a population-based risk estimate (something that can only be done using population-based observational research). It is unclear whether drug discontinuation prior to surgery reduces this risk. Because the combination of cataract surgery and tamsulosin exposure is relatively common, patients should be properly appraised of the risks of drug therapy and preoperative systems should focus on the identification of tamsulosin use by patients. In this way, surgeons can plan and prepare for a potentially more complicated procedure or refer to someone with more experience,” the authors conclude.

JAMA. 2009;301[19]:1991-1996.

Source
JAMA

In a major breakthrough that comes after decades of research and nearly half a billion treatments in humans, scientists have finally unlocked how a key anti-parasitic drug kills the worms brought on by the filarial diseases river blindness and elephantitis.

Understanding how the drug ivermectin works has the potential to lead to new treatments for the diseases, in which the body is infected with parasitic worms, said Charles Mackenzie, a professor of veterinary pathology in the College of Veterinary Medicine and researcher on the project. The diseases afflict about 140 million people worldwide, doing much of their damage in equatorial Africa.

“Ivermectin is one of the most important veterinary and human anti-parasitic agents ever,” Mackenzie said. “Knowing specifically how it interacts with the body’s own immune system and kills parasitic worms opens up whole new treatment avenues.”

The research appears in the current edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Elephantiasis (lymphatic filariasis) is caused by tiny worms spread via mosquitoes and results in severe swelling of the legs, arms and torso. River blindness (onchocerciasis) is spread by black flies, and after the worms die in a person’s eye, they can cause blindness and debilitating skin disease.

Ivermectin works by killing the first stage of the worm in the human body, and also appears to paralyze the reproductive tract of the adult female worms, stopping reproduction of new parasites.

What the researchers discovered is that the drug does this by preventing the worm from secreting proteins through a pore in its mid-body; ivermectin binds to receptors at the pore and blocks the secretions. It is the secretions that normally block a person’s ability to attack and kill the worm; after the drug prevents them, the host’s own immune system is able to attack and kill the parasites.

“Understanding how the worms were avoiding the host’s immune responses will greatly enhance our ability to manipulate the immune system to the advantage of the host, and perhaps develop vaccines,” Mackenzie said. “Also, one of the most important challenges in the overall effort against filarial infections relates to the development of resistance and the loss of efficacy of the drugs we use; this new knowledge provides an important key to understanding and perhaps preventing resistance.”

Ivermectin was developed by pharmaceutical firm Merck & Co. in the 1970s. It was donated in 1987 for use to treat river blindness, as existing drugs were in fact inducing blindness. Ivermectin was able to be used safely in mass drug administration programs in many developing countries, shifting the paradigm for how public health programs delivered medicines in rural areas. The drug then was used in other parasitic disease programs, such as the one for elephantiasis, treating more than 100 million people for that disease.

Mackenzie has worked for more than 20 years on tropical filarial diseases, much of that time partnering with Tim Geary at McGill University in Montreal. Geary’s lab was critical in the ivermectin findings, as was McGill graduate student Yovany Moreno. Geary and Mackenzie also recently were awarded $2 million from the Gates Foundation to study another anti-filarial drug, flubendazole.

Source:
Jason Cody
Michigan State University

International Stem Cell Corporation (OTCBB:ISCO), the first company to perfect a method of creating human “parthenogenetic” stem cells from unfertilized eggs, announces the results of a second set of experiments confirming that its lab-grown corneal tissue closely mimics the drug absorption and drug metabolism characteristics found in normal corneal tissue. Other tests show that the stem cell derived corneal tissue refracts light, thus providing a further indication of its potential therapeutic value in treating corneal injury and disease.

Two sets of collaborative experiments between ISCO and Absorption Systems have now shown that corneal tissue cultured by ISCO exhibits topical drug absorption barrier properties and tissue-appropriate enzymatic activity, making it a promising model for studying human ocular drug absorption as an alternative to live animal testing. ISCO’s human corneal tissue is created in the laboratories of its wholly owned subsidiary, Lifeline Cell Technology (Walkersville, MD).

In a second set of tests conducted by a third party expert, a beam of diverging light was projected through the corneal tissue from different distances, becoming more or less refracted with the changing distance, showing that the corneal tissue was clear and had optical properties that allow the focusing of light. Additional experiments will be conducted to better define these optical characteristics.

According to Jeffrey Janus, Senior VP of ISCO and CEO of Lifeline, “We are very excited to confirm our initial results showing drug absorption that correlates with animal models and add to these results the observation of enzymatic activity. This not only advances our plans to manufacture a product that can be used to reduce the need for tests that use living animals, but it also is one more step toward the potential therapeutic use of this tissue as a treatment for human corneal injury or disease. This has implications, not only in the US, but also in India and Asia, where millions of people suffer from corneal blindness that now goes untreated. The experiments showing light refraction are a tempting indication that this tissue will have therapeutic application.”

“There is a large commercial need for a predictive and reproducible non-animal method for testing the safety of ophthalmic drugs and consumer products,” said Patrick M. Dentinger, President and CEO of Absorption Systems. “The combined knowledge and expertise of ISCO and Absorption Systems have allowed us to take a step forward toward addressing an unmet need in the field of ophthalmology by creating a unique in vitro model to study human ocular drug absorption without using animals. Our collaboration with ISCO underscores our commitment to helping bring safe drugs to market.”

The collaboration between Absorption Systems and ISCO uses Absorption Systems’ know-how in creating and characterizing assay systems to develop superior preclinical methods of testing drugs. Such methods can also reduce the use of laboratory animals currently necessary for other tests, including safety testing of consumer products.

About International Stem Cell Corporation (ISCO.OB)

International Stem Cell Corporation is a California-based biotechnology company focused on therapeutic and research products. ISCO’s core technology, parthenogenesis, results in creation of pluripotent human stem cells from unfertilized oocytes (eggs). hpSCs avoid ethical issues associated with the use or destruction of viable human embryos. ISCO scientists have created the first parthenogenic, homozygous stem cell line that can be a source of therapeutic cells with minimal immune rejection after transplantation into hundreds of millions of individuals of differing sexes, ages and racial groups. This offers the potential to create the first true stem cell bank, UniStemCell™, while avoiding the ethical issue of using fertilized eggs. ISCO also produces and markets specialized cells and growth media for therapeutic research worldwide through its subsidiary Lifeline Cell Technology. More information is available at ISCO’s website, internationalstemcell.

Source
Absorption Systems

Novagali Pharma, an emerging ophthalmic pharmaceutical company, announced today orphan drug designation granted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to Cyclosporine A drug Vekacia®, a patented cationic emulsion, for the treatment of Vernal Keratoconjunctivitis (VKC).

VKC is a rare and severe form of chronic allergic conjunctivitis affecting mostly children and young adults. It is characterized by painful ocular discomfort, itching and intense photophobia, which severely debilitates patients and virtually forces them to live in the dark with the obvious consequences on school attendance and learning.

In March 2006, the Committee for Orphan Medical Products (COMP), a division of the European Medicines Agency (EMEA), has granted orphan drug designation in the European Union to Vekacia® and in April 2007, Novagali has announced the positive results from the phase III pivotal clinical study in children suffering from VKC. It was shown that both symptoms and signs of disease improved in patients receiving Vekacia®. Furthermore, product was safe and well tolerated. Novagali plans to file European Marketing Authorization mid-2007.

Today, Vekacia has been granted orphan drug designation for treatment of VKC by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Drugs that receive orphan drug designation obtain seven years of marketing exclusivity from the date of drug approval as well as tax credits for clinical trial costs, marketing application filing fee waivers and assistance from the FDA in the drug development process.

“This US orphan designation is an important milestone for patients suffering from VKC. There are currently no approved therapies for the treatment of this debilitating condition in US and in Europe and it is satisfying to know that our product has the potential to allow children to resume daily activities such as attending school” Said Jerome Martinez, president and CEO of Novagali Pharma who adds “this is a key step for our future development in the US”.

About Novagali Pharma

Novagali Pharma SA is an emerging ophthalmic pharmaceutical company based in the Genopole biocluster in Evry, France, that develops innovative products for all segments of the eye. Thanks to its proprietary technology platforms Novasorb® and Eyeject®, the company has developed a broad pipeline of innovative products addressing main ocular conditions as well as orphan diseases. Most advanced products include Vekacia®, an orphan product for treatment of vernal keratoconjunctivitis; Cationorm®, a CE marking product for dry eye relief; and Nova22007, a product for the treatment of moderate-to-severe dry eye syndrome. Founded in 2000, the firm has raised a total amount of Euro 44 million in 3 series of financing.

novagali

As the credit crunch keeps on crunching and finances are squeezed ever tighter it is tempting to put off that visit to the optometrist and to carry on with your old specs for another few months. If your vision is good then it is even less likely that you will make an appointment for a sight test – after all you can ‘see’ that nothing is wrong!

Surely, if a person was, literally, nearly half blind, they would know all about it, wouldn’t they? Yet glaucoma has no symptoms in its early stages and many people lose up to 40% of their field of vision before they notice any problem!

Often this will mean that an undiagnosed sufferer will start having more trips and falls and if they are driving, may miss cars overtaking or even people or children crossing the road with potentially disastrous consequences, all of which could have been avoided by having a simple routine eye test every two years.

Early detection is key to controlling visual loss from glaucoma, but, because of the present financial crisis, it is likely that even more people are going to put off their sight test. Many people are entitled to a free test, but may not know about it.

The total cost of sight loss in the UK has been estimated at ??4.9 billion a year(1) and the medical cost of falls related to visual impairment has been estimated at ??128 million over a 12-month period(2). Can we really afford not to go for an eye test?

During National Glaucoma Awareness Week our aim is to encourage everyone over the age of 40 to have a regular (once every two years) routine eye test that includes all three glaucoma tests (ophthalmoscopy, tonometry and perimetry), whether or not they believe anything is wrong with their vision.

We are asking for your help to publicise this advice so that needless visual loss and blindness due to glaucoma can be avoided.

David Wright, CEO: “A comprehensive eye test for glaucoma including all three glaucoma tests is painless and quick and amazingly good value for money when compared with the consequences of losing your vision. Let us not come out of this recession, whenever that may be, with a recession legacy of blind and partially sighted people who had ‘nothing wrong with their sight’ when they decided not to have their eyes tested.”

Source
International Glaucoma Association

VISTAKON®, Division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc., announced that it has received clearance from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market narafilcon B, the first and only silicone hydrogel daily disposable lens in the United States. The company will market it under the name 1-DAY ACUVUE® TruEye™ Brand Contact Lenses, and here at the annual meeting of the American Optometric Association, revealed that the product will be available in the offices of eye care professionals throughout the United States beginning this month.

“1-DAY ACUVUE® TruEye™ is a breakthrough in contact lens technology with a distinctive balance of properties that enables it to offer exceptional comfort, comparable to a contact lens-free eye,” says Dave Brown, President, VISTAKON®. “Fifteen years after VISTAKON® introduced the world’s first one-day disposable soft contact lens, we continue our heritage of and commitment to bringing healthy vision to everyone, everyday through innovative new products.”

Designed to keep eyes looking white and healthy, 1???DAY ACUVUE® TruEye™ combines narafilcon B, a next generation, high-performance silicone hydrogel material and HYDRACLEAR® 1, a proprietary formulation of the patented HYDRACLEAR® technology with the hygiene, flexibility and convenience of a one-day replacement lens. It also offers the highest level of UV protection in a contact lens.??� **

“1???DAY ACUVUE® TruEye™ was designed, developed, and clinically researched versus the ultimate benchmark: the natural eye,” explains Colleen Riley, OD, MS, FAAO, VP, Professional Development, VISTAKON®.

An ongoing one-year, 94-subject, randomized, investigator-masked, parallel group study, compares patients wearing 1???DAY ACUVUE® TruEye™ with patients who have never worn contact lenses. After one month of wear, 1???DAY ACUVUE® TruEye™ was shown to have no significant effect on the ocular surface of the eye as compared to non-contact lens wearers across five of six contact lens related measures associated with eye health. In addition, 1-DAY ACUVUE® TruEye™ was also shown to provide high levels of comfort from morning to night, comparable to wearing no lens at all.

“The data suggests that 1-DAY ACUVUE® TruEye™ can help maintain ocular health with the near ‘no-lens’ experience, and keep the lens wearing eye looking white and healthy, while also providing consistent comfort throughout the day,” says Dr. Riley.

1???DAY ACUVUE® TruEye™ provides wearers with the unique balance of all these 4 DIMENSIONS OF EYE HEALTH™: Comfortable Health, Visible Health, Everyday Health and Proactive Health.

Comfortable Health
The new lens features HYDRACLEAR® 1, an improved formulation of the unique HYDRACLEAR® technology that combines high performance base materials with a moisture-rich wetting agent. HYDRACLEAR®1 provides lasting comfort that wearers can feel consistently on an hourly and daily basis.

Visible Health
1???DAY ACUVUE® TruEye™ helps keep eyes looking naturally white and healthy, because its unique material allows eyes to breath freely throughout the day. “It allows your eyes to breathe almost as if you were not wearing contact lenses at all,” explains Dr. Riley.

Everyday Health
A number of studies have shown that daily replacement is the healthiest way to wear contact lenses. By putting in a clean, fresh lens every day, one-day contacts help minimize the potential for buildup of allergens and irritants. Additionally, one-day contact lenses are a more convenient option for wearers because there is no need to clean or store the lenses.

Proactive Health
1???DAY ACUVUE® TruEye™ offers patients the highest level of UV protection in a contact lens, blocking more than 96 percent of UV-A rays and 99 percent of UV-B rays that reach the lens.??� **

Although UV-blocking contact lenses provide important added protection for patients, they should not be viewed as a stand-alone solution. Contact lenses should always be worn in conjunction with high-quality UV-blocking sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat for maximum UV protection for the eyes.

A free trial-pair certificate* for 1???DAY ACUVUE® TruEye™, is available here.

ACUVUE® Brand Contact Lenses are indicated for vision correction. As with any contact lens, eye problems, including corneal ulcers, can develop. Some wearers may experience mild irritation, itching or discomfort. Lenses should not be prescribed if patients have any eye infection, or experience eye discomfort, excessive tearing, vision changes, redness or other eye problems. Consult the package insert for complete information.

??� Helps protect against transmission of harmful UV radiation to the cornea and into the eye.
* Professional exam and fitting fees not included. Valid only while supplies last.
** WARNING: UV-absorbing contact lenses are NOT substitutes for protective UV-absorbing eyewear such as UV-absorbing goggles or sunglasses because they do not completely cover the eye and surrounding area. You should continue to use UV-absorbing eyewear as directed.

NOTE: Long term exposure to UV radiation is one of the risk factors associated with cataracts. Exposure is based on a number of factors such as environmental conditions (altitude, geography, cloud cover) and personal factors (extent and nature of outdoor activities). UV-Blocking contact lenses help provide protection against harmful UV radiation. However, clinical studies have not been done to demonstrate that wearing UV-Blocking contact lenses reduces the risk of developing cataracts or other eye disorders. Consult your eye care practitioner for more information.

Source:
Johnson & Johnson

The annual retention period for all full registrants gets underway today. The General Optical Council (GOC) has posted out retention forms to all fully-registered optometrists, dispensing opticians and bodies corporate. Practitioners and businesses must complete and return their forms, along with payment, by 15 March 2009.

Registrants are being urged to return their application as early as possible. A late application charge of ??20 will apply to anyone who returns their retention form after the deadline of 15 March but before 31 March, increasing the cost of retention from ??219 to ??239.

Acting registrar Dian Taylor said: “We’re encouraging registrants to respond early and avoid incurring the extra fee. The GOC isn’t out to make money out of these charges. Processing late applications comes at a cost. We don’t believe that the majority of registrants, who get their forms and payments in on time, should have to foot the bill.”

Registrants are also being asked for an up to date email address and daytime telephone number. This will enable the registration team to deal with any problems quickly, and keep costs down.

Dian Taylor added: “If there is a problem with your retention form and we can’t get hold of you, we have no choice but to post the form back. As the deadline approaches, time is of the essence – you run the risk of being removed on 1 April if we can’t resolve problems in a timely way.”

Equality and diversity monitoring forms are also included in the retention packs. The GOC is encouraging registrants to complete and return the form with their retention application, although they are not obliged to do so. Equality and diversity monitoring is essential to ensure the GOC’s policies and practices remain free from discrimination.

Any registrant who does not receive their form within the next few weeks should contact the GOC to make sure their address details are up to date. The registration team can be contacted on 020 7580 3898 (option 1), or email gocoptical. Registrants can also check address details or download a form online.

Notes

1. Optometrists and dispensing opticians who are practising in the UK are legally required to be registered with the GOC.

2. Registrants who do not return their completed form and payment by the deadline risk being removed from the registers from 1 April 2009.

3. If a retention application reaches the GOC after 15 March without the additional fee it will be returned to the applicant. The registrant’s name may be removed from the register on 1 April if full payment is not received by 31 March.

4. Registrants who pay by direct debit are still required to submit their completed retention form, in order to renew their GOC registration.

5. All equality and diversity information provided by registrants will remain strictly confidential. Information will be held on a separate database to which only a small number of authorised GOC staff will have access. Individuals responsible for investigating fitness to practise complaints will not have access to the information provided.

6. The GOC carried out a full consultation on their equality and diversity policy. Details about the GOC’s equality and diversity scheme are available in an information leaflet, which is included in retention packs. Information can also be found at www.optical (under Registration>Equality and diversity).

7. A list of those registrants removed from the registers from 1 April 2009 will be published on the GOC’s website, and copies will be sent to primary care organisations.

8. Registrants who are removed from the registers on 1 April and wish to continue practising in the UK must complete an application for restoration form. The restoration fee is ??289.

About the General Optical Council

The GOC is the regulator for the optical professions in the UK. Its purpose is to protect the public by promoting high standards of education, conduct and performance amongst opticians. The Council currently registers around 22,000 optometrists, dispensing opticians, student opticians and optical businesses.

General Optical Council

This summary report presents findings from Network 1000 Survey 2. The data was collected during interviews with 503 visually impaired people of working age between November 2006 and January 2007. All the participants were registered as either blind or partially sighted and lived in Great Britain. Sampling and analysis accounted for the age distribution of the visually impaired population.

The summary focuses upon data relating to employment. A full report is available on the VISION 2020 UK website listed at the end of this document.

The report presents data in relation to:

1) Overview of employment status;
2) Services received by those currently in work;
3) People who are not in work;
4) Barriers and enablers to employment.

1. Overview of employment status

Overall employment rates

Employment rate amongst the population of working age people who are registered blind or partially sighted is estimated as 33%. This figure is approximately the same as the estimate based on Network 1000 Survey 1 (2005). In terms of differences across ages, the highest proportion of respondents in employment is found in the 30-49 age group (44%) then the 18-29 group (at 33%) and the lowest proportion in the 50-64 group (only 22%).

People who described themselves as ‘long term sick or disabled’ are the biggest group within the working aged visually impaired population (36%). Again this is linked with age – 17%, 32% and 45% in the 18-29, 30-49 and 50-64 age groups respectively. The overall proportion of people who described themselves as ‘long term sick or disabled’ has grown since Survey 1.

As we might expect, respondents in the 18-29 category were much more likely to classify themselves as a student (22%) than in the other two age groups, but also unemployment was higher in this age group (22% compared with around 10% in other age groups, and overall 12%). High proportions of people aged between 50 and 64 years of age described themselves as retired (19%) although they were not old enough to receive a state pension.

The employment rate amongst visually impaired people is very low compared to the general working age population. Overall, three quarters of the general population reported being in some form of employment (General Household Survey 2006; ONS, 2008). Visually impaired individuals of working age are much more likely to describe themselves as being unemployed, long term sick or disabled, or retired than those in the general population.

VISION 2020 UK