Alcon and Prevent Blindness America Partner at AARP Annual Meeting to Help Baby Boomers Better Manage Eye Health.HUENENBERG, Switzerland -- At the 2007 American Association of Retired Persons American Association of Retired Persons: see AARP. (AARP AARP, a nonprofit, nonpartisan national organization dedicated to "enriching the experience of aging"; membership is open to people age 50 or older. Founded in 1958 by Ethel Percy Andrus as American Association of Retired Persons, AARP now has over 30 million ) Annual Meeting in Boston last month, Alcon, Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :ACL See access control list. 1. ACL - Access Control List. 2. ACL - Association for Computational Linguistics. 3. ACL - A Coroutine Language. A Pascal-based implementation of coroutines. ["Coroutines", C.D. ), the world's largest eye care company, joined with the nation's leading volunteer eye health organization, Prevent Blindness America, to educate Baby Boomers about practical approaches to maintaining healthy eyes and good vision. As part of their commitment to promoting quality vision health, Alcon and Prevent Blindness America facilitated more than 400 complimentary eye screenings testing visual acuity visual acuity n. Sharpness of vision, especially as tested with a Snellen chart. Normal visual acuity based on the Snellen chart is 20/20. Visual acuity The ability to distinguish details and shapes of objects. and visual field. Alcon also sponsored several informational presentations about glaucoma, cataracts and dry eye featuring leading ophthalmologists. In addition, the partnering groups encouraged meeting attendees to speak with onsite physicians about specific eye health concerns and offered educational literature and product samples. According to a 2002 study conducted by Prevent Blindness America, it is estimated that more than 3.4 million older Americans are legally blind, with the prevalence of blindness or visual impairment Visual Impairment Definition Total blindness is the inability to tell light from dark, or the total inability to see. Visual impairment or low vision is a severe reduction in vision that cannot be corrected with standard glasses or contact lenses and increasing rapidly after the age of 75. Many of these cases could have been prevented if aging Americans took a more proactive approach to their overall eye health. "Alcon and Prevent Blindness America's support of free screenings and eye health educational programs at the AARP Annual Meeting was an important public service. This was a valuable step towards increasing awareness about vision health in the older population," said Paul Schacknow, M.D., Ph.D., chief of Glaucoma Services, Visual Health and Surgical Center, and clinical associate professor, Department of Surgery, Division of Ophthalmology, Nova Southeastern University History Originally named Nova University of Advanced Technology,[7] the university was chartered by the state of Florida in 1964[8][9] as a graduate institution in the physical and social sciences. . "As this generation continues to age, it is imperative that they get examined regularly and learn when they might be at risk. It was a great opportunity to participate in the glaucoma screening and to meet and interact with the people who were screened and answer their questions." In addition to Dr. Schacknow, several other doctors attended the AARP Annual Meeting on behalf of Alcon, including: * Jane Bachman, O.D., F.A.A.O., adjunct clinical faculty, Medical College of Wisconsin. * Elyse Chaglasaian, O.D., F.A.A.O., associate professor of optometry optometry (ŏptŏm`ətrē), eye-care specialty concerned with eye examination, determination of visual abilities, diagnosis of eye diseases and conditions, and the prescription of lenses and other corrective measures. , Illinois College of Optometry, and Midwest Refractive Surgery Refractive surgery A surgical procedure that corrects visual defects. Mentioned in: Photorefractive Keratectomy and Laser-Assisted In-Situ Keratomileusis refractive surgery & Cornea cornea: see eye. Consulting, Hoffman Estates, IL. * Robert Kupsc, O.D., Nielsen Eye Center. * Kenneth Lebow, O.D., F.A.A.O. * Steven A. Nielsen, M.D., president of the Nielsen Eye Center, assistant professor of clinical ophthalmology, Tufts University School of Medicine The Tufts University School of Medicine is one of the eight schools that comprise Tufts University. Located on the university's health sciences campus in the Chinatown district of Boston, Massachusetts, the medical school has clinical affiliations with thousands of doctors and . * James Pasternack, M.D., assistant professor, University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut is the State of Connecticut's land-grant university. It was founded in 1881 and serves more than 27,000 students on its six campuses, including more than 9,000 graduate students in multiple programs. UConn's main campus is in Storrs, Connecticut. , clinical instructor, Yale University. * Clark Springs, M.D., assistant professor of clinical ophthalmology, Indiana University School of Medicine The Indiana University School of Medicine is the medical school of Indiana University, part of the Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI) campus located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Established in 1903, the school had an initial class of 25 students. . During the course of the meeting, Alcon surveyed people being screened and other visitors to its booth to find out what their greatest concerns were with respect to their eyes and vision. Among the most frequently noted concerns were: * Contact lens contact lens, thin plastic lens worn between the eye and eyelid that may be used instead of eyeglasses. Actors, models, and others wear them for appearance, and athletes use them for safety and convenience. solutions and dryness. * Dry eyes and therapies to soothe or cure ocular dryness. * Latest technologies in intraocular lenses, specifically for presbyopia Presbyopia Definition The term presbyopia means "old eye" and is a vision condition involving the loss of the eye's ability to focus on close objects. and astigmatism astigmatism (əstĭg`mətĭz'əm), type of faulty vision caused by a nonuniform curvature in the refractive surfaces—usually the cornea, less frequently the lens—of the eye. . * New treatments for macular degeneration. * Ocular vitamins and specific brands. * Therapies for eye diseases common in the Baby Boomer audience, such as glaucoma, cataracts and dry eye. * Vision loss from glaucoma and the latest surgical techniques. "By partnering with Prevent Blindness America and eye care professionals from around the country, we were able to outreach to thousands of Boomers about vision at the AARP's meeting," said Cary Rayment, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Alcon, Inc. "Together we raised vision awareness and promoted proactive eye health management among older Americans, and we look forward to building upon this important message in the future." Prevent Blindness America's most recent study, The Economic Impact of Vision Problems: The Toll of Major Adult Eye Disorders, Visual Impairment, and Blindness on the U.S. Economy, which came out in April 2007, estimated that vision problems in the United States costs the economy roughly $51.4 billion. "We were honored to participate in the AARP meeting alongside Alcon and eye care professionals to help promote vision health as people age," said Daniel D. Garrett, senior vice president of Prevent Blindness America. "This meeting provided us the opportunity to spread the word about practicing better eye health to identify diseases and conditions at an early stage and prevent permanent vision loss." The AARP Annual Meeting provides Americans over 50 a venue to learn about the products and services that matter the most to them and their lifestyle. This year, more than 25,000 individuals and AARP members attended the Annual Meeting. About Alcon Alcon is the world's leading eye care company and has been improving eye health and vision for more than 60 years. Alcon has the broadest offering of pharmaceutical, surgical and consumer products for the eye including leading products such as the AcrySof([R]) Natural IQ, AcrySof([R]) ReStor([R]) and AcrySof([R]) Toric tor·ic adj. Of, relating to, or shaped like a torus or part of a torus. intraocular lenses for cataract surgery, Travatan([R]) ophthalmic solution for glaucoma, Patanol([R]) and Pataday([R]) ophthalmic solutions for eye allergies, Vigamox([R]) ophthalmic solution and TobraDex([R]) ophthalmic suspension for eye infections and OptiFree([R]) Replenish([R]) multipurpose disinfecting solution for contact lenses. With the largest corporate research and development commitment of any eye care company worldwide, Alcon develops pharmaceutical products to treat glaucoma, retinal diseases, dry eye, infection, inflammation and allergy; surgical products for cataract, vitreoretinal and refractive refractive capacity to refract light. refractive error a difference between the focal length of the cornea and lens, and the length of the eye, resulting in myopia or hyperopia. procedures, and consumer products in the areas of contact lens care, dry eye and ocular health. In 2006, Alcon invested $512 million to research and develop new products and plans to invest more than $3 billion over the next five years to discover and develop new treatments for conditions and diseases of the eye. For more information about Alcon, please visit www.alcon.com. About Prevent Blindness America Founded in 1908, Prevent Blindness America is the nation's leading volunteer eye health and safety organization dedicated to fighting blindness and saving sight. Focused on promoting a continuum of vision care, Prevent Blindness America touches the lives of millions of people each year through public and professional education, advocacy, certified vision screening and training, community and patient service programs and research. These services are made possible through the generous support of the American public. Together with a network of affiliates, divisions and chapters, it's committed to eliminating preventable blindness in America. For more information, or to make a contribution to the sight-saving fund, call 1-800-331-2020. Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements. This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and of 1995. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. These statements reflect the views of our management as of the date of this press release with respect to future events and are based on assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Except to the extent required under the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations promulgated prom·ul·gate tr.v. prom·ul·gat·ed, prom·ul·gat·ing, prom·ul·gates 1. To make known (a decree, for example) by public declaration; announce officially. See Synonyms at announce. 2. by the Securities and Exchange Commission, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any of these forward-looking statements, whether to reflect new information or future events or circumstances or otherwise. |
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