WASHINGTON, D.C.—The vision community and its coalition partners have refocused education and communications in 2018 around July as Dry Eye Awareness Month. Following up on the publication of the Tear Film & Ocular Surface Society’s Dry Eye Workshop II (TFOS DEWS II), dry eye experts are returning to Congress to explain the report’s impact in clinical practice and research. TFOS DEWS II updated the definition, classification and diagnosis of dry eye; critically evaluated the epidemiology, pathophysiology, mechanism and impact of the disease; addressed its management and therapy; and developed recommendation for the design of clinical trials to assess pharmaceuticals interventions.

The Impact of the TFOS DEWS II will be presented at the Congressional Briefing on July 11. The Briefing will be co-hosted by TFOS and The Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (AEVR) and will be held from 12:00 p.m. to 1:15 in Rayburn 2168 (Gold Room). A panel of experts will discuss the impact of the TFOS DEWS II report on Clinical Practice and Research, focusing on eye diseases and conditions that cause dry eye.

Additionally, the briefing will be bookended by a “Test Your Tears” dry eye screening. Click here to access the briefing/screening flier.

“The treatment of dry eye remains something of an art, not easily lending itself to a rigid, evidence-based algorithm that accommodates all patients with dry eye symptoms or signs. All eyecare providers who treat patients with dry eye must exercise their clinical skills to judge the significance of each of the varied pathogenic processes that may manifest similar subjective complaints and similar signs of ocular surface dysfunction,” said Dr. David A. Sullivan, MS, PhD, FARVO, the TFOS DEWS II organizer and Congressional Briefing moderator.

The vision community members supporting the July 2018 educational activities include:

Alliance for Eye and Vision Research Assoc. for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
American Academy of Ophthalmology Prevent Blindness
American Academy of Optometry Research to Prevent Blindness
American Optometric Association Tear Film & Ocular Surface Society

TFOS thanks the following industry partners who supported TFOS DEWS II with unrestricted donations, including: Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation and Alcon, a division of Novartis, Shire, Allergan, Bausch + Lomb, Akorn, CooperVision, Dompé, Horus Pharma, Lµbris Biopharma, Oculeve, TearLab, Laboratoires Théa, SIFI, Johnson & Johnson Vision, Quint Health, Scope Ophthalmics, Sun Pharma, Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc. Zeiss Group and Senju.