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Preserve our Eyes, not our Drops!

 

 

 

 


      

 

Actions & Projects

panneau travaux en cours

This page is incomplete. Please excuse us. 

OSD sufferers: Please tell us about your difficulties and priorities, we'll take these into account as much as possible! 

The priorities defined by Keratos so far:

I. Reimbursement issues and drug policy:

1) Tear substitutes without preservatives and reimbursement of the new generation of tear substitutes that only benefit from partial reimbursement (ex: sodium hyaluronate or hyaluronic acid).

2) Achieve a total reimbursement of slceral for therapeutic purposes. See Scleral Lenses for additional information.

3) Adapt reimboursement rates and policy to favour unpreserved eyedrops.

II. Medical care:

1) Favour the creation of referral centres on Ocular Surface Diseases and severe Dysfunctional Tear Film.

2) Raise awareness on new and innovative treatments such Scleral Lenses and their new therapeutic possibilities, cyclosporine, amniotic membrane and autologous serum.  

III. Social care for Ocular Disabilities, including professional reinsertion in the context of ocular surface disorders.

1) Raise Awareness on OSD and dry eye syndromes amongst the general population (including social, professional and health care difficulties).

2) At the professional level - adaptat disability evaluation to the specific realities and challenges of ocular surface sufferers.

3) [Only applicable to France].

IV. Incite Research and increase pharmaceutical investments in this sector of ophthalmology:

1) and notably in stem cells based research, growth factors including NGF, research in favour of understanding the mechanisms of tear and corneal regeneration to create tomorrow's drugs.

2) Carry out studies on scleral lenses and new tear substitutes.

3) Generalise unpreserved eyedrops (see our website: Preserve our Eyes, not our Drops!). You'll find our advocacy and awareness-raising activities there.  

4) Favour research on new tear substitutes capable of reproducing tear elements -mucin, aqueous and lipids (and not just the regular palliatives) and their natural benefits (lasting hydration, cleansing, antibiotic activity, nutritive properties, etc).

Our main current actions

Reimbursement of Scleral Lenses - Since Keratos' inception, we have been sending queries to the few teams in the world working on ocular surface therapeutic applications of scleral lenses. Since 2006, we started to work on scleral lenses-related advocacy and other specific needs of severe ocular surface diseases sufferers. Our joint efforts (with other our French partners) have lead to the recongnition that scleral lenses should be reimbursed.  We hope to be able to give you excellent news very soon...

Fight preservative use in eyedrops: Keratos started to work on this field in 2005 and has now launched a website to address this particular issue. We hope to sensitize laboratories involved in ocular surface market to to produce eyedrops and gels that respect the needs of the ocular surface and certainly not cytotoxic, allergenic and tear-disruptive ones! We also want to convince the French drug agency to adopt a new policy in favour of preservative-free products for the anterior segment.  Please visit our website: Preserve our Eyes, not our Drops!

Socioprofessional insertion and the recognition of ocular surface disabilities -Keratos has been raising awareness on the unknown impact of ocular surface diseases in professional and social life. We have done our utmost to explain what the main challenges for ocular surface sufferers  are in terms of finding and securing a job. Keratos became an observer member of a French group on work and chronic illnesses. If you read French please visit: http://www.pathologies-et-travail.org/

Research on Research - Keratos is relagularly in contact with laboratories, researchers and other specialists involved in lachrymal dysfucntions, corneal healing based research. In sum, Keratos tries to inform its members on tomorrow's treatments and research leads ahead. These efforts are detailed in our newsletter.

Future projects

Referral Center and Foundation for OSD - Keratos is currently working with other association to create a partnership leading to the creation of a Foundation for Ocular Surface Diseases or even smaller referral centers.

in progress ;-)

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