Tencent Health and EssilorLuxottica Launch Digital Vision Care Services to Enhance National Eye Health

Promote the Popularization of Expert Consensus, Advance Industry Standardization and Enhance Public Awareness

Contact lenses are an important method for managing myopia in children and adolescents. Multifocal soft contact lenses, due to their clear effectiveness in slowing the progression of myopic refractive error and axial length growth, offer good safety when appropriate oxygen-permeable lenses are selected and daily disposable wear is adopted. They have a relatively wide range of indications, providing clinicians with a new option for myopia control strategies.

Tencent Healthcare Partners with EssilorLuxottica for the Online Launch of "Expert Consensus on the Fitting of Multifocal Soft Lenses for Myopia Control". This consensus, led by the Ophthalmic Optometry Group of the Chinese Ophthalmological Society, aims to enhance the standardization of fitting and follow-up procedures, ensure the effectiveness and safety of multifocal soft lens fitting, and regulate the clinical application of this innovative technology in myopia management.

The consensus pointed out that in 2020, the prevalence of myopia among children and adolescents in China reached 52.7%, and the prevalence of high myopia has also been increasing year by year. The prevalence of high myopia among 17-year-old adolescents increased from 8.7% in 2011 to 23.8% in 2019.

In July this year, the National Health Commission of China launched the "Qiming Action" and released the "Ten Core Knowledge Points for the Prevention and Control of Myopia in Children and Adolescents," advocating and promoting the importance of myopia prevention and control for children and adolescents within families and throughout society. The emphasis is on early prevention, early detection, and early intervention. Once myopia is diagnosed, scientific intervention should be carried out promptly, including corrective measures such as wearing glasses to slow the progression of myopia. At the same time, timely and appropriate prevention and control interventions should be implemented to delay the age of onset of myopia, control its progression, and reduce irreversible visual function damage caused by complications from high myopia.

Myopia Prevention and Control in Children and Adolescents Elevated to a National Strategy in China; Effectiveness and Safety of Control Methods Become Key Clinical Focus. Professor Lü Fan, Head of the Ophthalmic Optometry Group of the Ophthalmology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association and affiliated with the Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, emphasized the significance of expert consensus: "Expert consensus is based on extensive evidence from basic to clinical research in evidence-based medicine, ensuring that innovative technologies have reliable proof of effectiveness and safety. Moreover, achieving good results in myopia prevention requires adherence to standardized scientific procedures. For the safety and health of children, we must continuously strive to communicate research findings to the public and industry professionals in the simplest and most effective manner."

Lin Guoliang, President of Professional Vision Care at EssilorLuxottica Greater China, stated: "Multifocal soft contact lenses have been a new category garnering significant market attention in recent years for myopia control. As an advocate of the vision health ecosystem, EssilorLuxottica has long been committed to supporting industry experts in establishing consensus, enhancing industry standards, and reaching the public through innovative technologies. The online release of the 'Expert Consensus on the Fitting of Multifocal Soft Lenses for Myopia Control' in collaboration with Tencent Healthcare represents our latest effort in standardizing and innovating the clinical application of myopia management technologies while improving public access. This deepens our collaboration with Tencent Healthcare in the field of vision health, continuously providing the public with professional and accessible optometric knowledge and services."

Professor Jiang Jun, Director of the Corneal Contact Lens Department at the Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, indicated that multifocal soft contact lenses have evidence-based medical support as a new solution for myopia control. She shared the results of a three-year clinical comparative study at the conference. In terms of effectiveness, wearing the lenses for over 10 hours daily can achieve a myopia diopter progression control rate of up to 59%. Regarding safety, the probability of infectious keratitis in children wearing soft lenses is much lower than in adults, with an extremely low incidence of corneal infiltration events, and 99% of cases present as mild (Grade 1 or below). Additionally, Professor Jiang Jun explained the suitable candidates for multifocal soft lenses and guidelines for scientific use, including children with a family history of high myopia, poor eye-use habits, or those who cannot wear orthokeratology lenses due to various reasons such as small eyelids, insufficient sleep, or sensitive eyes.

To promote the dissemination of expert consensus and myopia prevention and control knowledge, Tencent Healthcare has collaborated with EssilorLuxottica to launch the "Vision Expert Panel" educational video series. More than 10 optometry experts from Beijing Tongren Hospital affiliated with Capital Medical University, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center of Sun Yat-sen University, Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat Hospital of Fudan University, and Wenzhou Medical University's Affiliated Eye Hospital have been invited to provide professional interpretations of the consensus and to popularize related prevention and control knowledge. This initiative aims to enhance public awareness and understanding of eye health, particularly among children and adolescents.

"Expert Consensus on the Fitting of Multifocal Soft Lenses for Myopia Control" - ZhiShi Expert Group

Wu Zhigang, General Manager of Tencent Healthcare User Platform, stated: "In today's era of information explosion, correct health knowledge is crucial. Tencent Healthcare has been providing valuable health information to our users, enabling everyone to better understand and maintain their own health. To date, in the field of eye health, we have promoted eye health knowledge dissemination to 120 million users in collaboration with Essilor. We look forward to closely cooperating with medical experts, scholars, and corporate partners to jointly research and promote innovative technologies and treatment methods in the field of eye health. Through these collaborations, we will better meet patients' needs, improve the level of eye health treatment, and bring a better quality of life to everyone."

Digitalization Empowers Full Life Cycle Eye Health Management, EfficientlyConnectionPublic HealthDemandWith the provision of healthcare services

One-stop health services such as vision testing, online consultation, and science popularization

To better help the public scientifically address eye health issues, Tencent Healthcare has previously collaborated with EssilorLuxottica to launch the "Eye Protection Zone." Catering to the needs of different groups, it encompasses functions such as screening and prevention, online optometrist consultations, eye examination appointments, online medical inquiries, offline registration, and educational outreach, creating a one-stop eye health service. This achieves a full-process visual health service loop, promoting eye health management throughout the entire life cycle.

Tencent Healthcare Mini Program Ophthalmic Optometry Section Consultation and Appointment Process Diagram

Eye health is an important component of national health in China, involving the entire life span of people across all age groups. Children, teenagers, middle-aged, and elderly individuals face different eye health challenges at various stages of life. For instance, myopia prevention and control among children and teenagers, visual fatigue and light sensitivity among young and middle-aged adults, and presbyopia, cataracts, and macular degeneration among the elderly. With the increasing awareness of public health, attention to eye health and the demand for eye care are also growing.

Tencent Healthcare, as a portable medical and health assistant, addresses the growing public health needs by digitally integrating online and offline eye health services. It brings "more universal eye health" to people of all ages, promoting the public's eye health habits from "passive" to "active."

From popular science to services, from offline to online, Tencent Healthcare not only utilizes its own capabilities and integrates platform resources to promote public awareness, but also combines its technological advantages to achieve a two-way connection between user needs and healthcare supply, breaking the limitations of time and space, and effectively improving the efficiency of healthcare services.

Currently, the Tencent Healthcare Mini Program has connected to over 3,000 public hospitals where appointments can be made, more than 5,000 physical examination institutions, and vaccination services in over 200 cities. The electronic medical insurance card covers more than 800,000 designated medical institutions and over 20,000 hospitals. The number of users with electronic health cards via WeChat exceeds 600 million, with access to more than 5,000 hospitals. In the future, Tencent Healthcare will continue to serve as a digital assistant, maintaining an open mindset while collaborating with industry partners. It will persistently focus on efficiently connecting healthcare services with user needs, bringing more convenient and thoughtful healthcare services to the public, and safeguarding public health for a brighter future.