B. Ralph Chou, MSc, OD, FAAO
Editor-in-Chief/Rédacteur en chef
The reappearance of the UV index in Canadian weather forecasts heralds the beginning of the summer seasonof outdoor activities. This year, the Canadian Dermatology Association (CDA) has declared June 5 to 11 “SunAwareness Week”, during which it will jointly issue public service announcements with the Canadian Ophthalmological Society (COS) reminding the Canadian public to protect their eyes and skin from damaging solar UVradiation. There is also a website devoted to sun protection for outdoor workers (sunsafetyatwork.ca).
Canadian Optometry has not been left out of the loop. In late April 2017, Canadian optometrists participated in aworkshop on UV protection for millennials in Ottawa. This followed participation in a National Steering Committeefor Consensus on Content for Sun Safety Messages. The Steering Committee published a paper in the Canadian Journal of Public Health in 2016, which laid out the consensus on sun safety messaging and the process used to get there.
Dr. Ben Giddens, who was the OAO representative, provides a review of the facts on sun safety and the eyes. AlthoughCanadians protect themselves from solar UV radiation in the summer, they really should do this all year. Dr. Giddensreminds us that solar UV radiation isn’t only dangerous to the eyes and skin when summer skies are clear. Skiers havetanned or sunburned faces after a day on the slopes, and photochromic lenses activate under cloudy skies for a reason.
Also in this issue you will fnd the abstracts for the poster session at this year’s CAO Congress. The posters refectthe wide range of today’s optometric research. I hope to see many of you at the posters.