This month from the Editor

Welcome to the August issue of mivision.
This month, all eyes will be on the greatest of all sporting events, the Olympics, in Beijing China. Our sports men and women have been in training to get to peak condition receiving all the help they can get from the various branches of sports sciences (coaches, dieticians, psychologists, etc.).

In Beijing, about 30 Aussie athletes have an extra edge, thanks to optometrists who offered there services gratis to all members of the Australian Olympic team. This issue our lead story looks at how optometrists, who specialise in sports vision, have helped our top athletes with their vision problems.

On a more sombre note, it's a real worry to discover that at least half the 300,000 Australians suffering from glaucoma don't even know they have it - and caught early enough, can be treated so easily. In this edition we let you know how Glaucoma Australia intends to change this community ignorance during National Glaucoma Week this month. It's a message worth promoting by all of us.

The bionic eye is back in the news (not that it ever really left) and in this edition we inform you on how close the Sydney team is to implanting its first bionic eye, who the recipient is and the latest (at time of publication) in attempts for major Government funding.

As optical dispensers throughout the world seek to advance their minimum qualifications, in Australia we continue to downgrade the minimum level of qualifications. In this issue we report on the real concerns that this negative trend could have on Australia's standard of eye care.

This issue Professor Brien Holden looks at the importance of adopting contact lens care guidelines; Optometrist Jim Papas challenges us on the direction of the optometric industry and Professor Colin R. Green discusses how good translational research can be made possible.

As always, we bring you all the very latest in eye care news, as well as our other regular sections and features written by our experts. Lastly, if you want to provide us with feedback on something you've read contact the mivision team at: editor@mivision.com.au.

Enjoy.