Pfizer, Allergan support World Glaucoma Day

New York-To help celebrate the second annual World Glaucoma Day (WGD), government representatives, eye-care professionals, patient groups, and members of the industry throughout the world offered their support through specific programs designed to increase global awareness of glaucoma and the importance of early detection and successful management.

Pfizer Ophthalmics has released a video series, Five tips to help prevent vision loss and successfully manage glaucoma. The series features leading experts in glaucoma, who cover these five elements of successful glaucoma care and management for patients:

• Have a complete eye exam, including optic nerve assessment.
• Know your IOP.
• Take your medications as prescribed.
• Know your risk factors, and help raise awareness about the disease among people you know.
• Visit an eye-health professional if you have any of the risk factors for glaucoma.

Remember that early diagnosis and appropriate treatment may help reduce the overall impact of glaucoma. The risk factors for glaucoma include:

• Increasing age
• A family history of glaucoma
• High IOP
• Marked nearsightedness
• Of African descent (for open-angle glaucoma)
• Of Asian descent (angle-closure glaucoma)

During World Glaucoma Day, leading glaucoma experts shared these five tips via an interactive video series at www.AllEyesOnGlaucoma.com.

Pfizer also is promoting the use of resources such as its All Eyes on Glaucoma campaign to help raise global awareness of glaucoma on World Glaucoma Day and throughout the year. A key element of this campaign is its interactive Web site at www.AllEyesOnGlaucoma.com, which offers tools to help patients determine whether they are at risk for glaucoma and provides them with important questions to ask their eye-health professional.

Also in honor of World Glaucoma Day, Allergan has made available a free downloadable media tool kit that includes tips and template materials for clinicians. The kit was designed by the company as a resource kit to assist clinicians in reaching out to their local media to raise awareness of glaucoma and World Glaucoma Day.

The kit includes:

• Media outreach tips: The basics
• Talking to the media: An interview tip sheet
• WGD press release
• WGD media advisory
• WGD fact sheet
• WGD expression of intent form

The kit is available at http://www.allergan.com/assets/pdf/WorldGlaucomaDay.pdf

Allergan encourages eye-health professionals to support World Glaucoma Day by holding activities such as free glaucoma screening events, organizing educational events, and contacting the local media to raise awareness of glaucoma on this day. Allergan encourages professionals to complete an online event form at www.wgday.net. Be a Part of It or to send in the expression of intent form available in its tool kit to convey how they individually will contribute to the success of the 2009 World Glaucoma Day.