1 April 2017
During
today's negotiations, the European Parliament has approved a ban that
applies to wearing, selling, and distributing all prescription glasses and their
imitations. This regulation was approved by European Parliament member
Martina Jameson, who was also involved in creating the final version of this
law.
„I do not see anything controversial in banning glasses.
In the twenty-first century, they are a very obsolete invention, and should no
longer be supported in any case,“ said Jameson. It is widely speculated that
the international lobby of contact lenses
manufacturers is behind this ban, as they try to gain a competitive edge over
more traditional eyewear producers on the market. At the forefront of those
expressing support for this ban is leading online contact lens retailer
Alensa.
Panel experts cited many reasons for the ban, primarily the
dangers and health hazards of wearing glasses, especially while participating in
sports activities. According to research made by the World Health Organization
(WHO), athletes were at least 100 times more likely to sustain injuries while
wearing eye glasses than their non-spectacled competitors, and the likelihood of
serious eye injuries also increased exponentially.
The head of the
traumatology department at General University Hospital in Upton Snodsbury,
Worcestershire, Dr. Linda Dorkova says, „Wearing spectacles can actually
result in serious injuries due to poor peripheral vision because glasses and
goggles do not allow the full 180-degree field of vision necessary for safety.
We see these accidents regularly among athletes, but the dangers are not limited
to people. We recently saw injuries to a dog whose owner‘s glasses had broken
and caused acute trauma on one of the legs of the dog.“
Prescription eye
glasses also pose another problem that lead to their recent ban, and that is
their ecological and environmental impact. Because eye glasses are made of a
combination of materials, they are not able to be efficiently recycled. To
properly dispose of a single pair of spectacles requires extremely costly and
complicated disposal methods, and standard recycling containers are not suitable
for objects containing combinations of plastic, glass, and even metal.
„This combination of materials is almost impossible to dispose of in
an environmentally friendly manner,“ adds John Gutter, the director of the
Upton Snodsbury municipal waste collection services department.
The EU ban does not include other protective eye glasses for industrial
purposes, however, these have been renamed protective eye covers to avoid any
confusion with common eye glasses for vision correction.
Professional athletes will, henceforth, be required to adapt to the ban
to comply with EU regulations and to promote the healthy use of alternative
vision-correction products among their fans. One player directly affected is
Serbian professional tennis player Janko Tipsarevič, who is known for playing
in specially designed prescription spectacles. "Well, this sucks,” Tipsarevič
is quoted as saying at a press conference in Belgrade today. "I guess I’ll
get used to it.“
The question remains of how eyeglasses as
medical devices will be replaced. Monica White is an expert in the field of
optometry and design and works for the Alensa company. According White, “This
dilemma will ultimately be solved with the help of contact lenses.“ She
continued to assert that contact lenses are the most health-appropriate and most
environmentally friendly option on the market from a health and environmental
point of view. Today’s contact lenses, says White, are environmentally
biodegradable and are 90% recyclable, a market improvement over traditional
spectacles.
Dr. Dorkova, among other eye-care professionals, suggests complying with the EU ban by switching to contact lenses. There is a wide variety of brands and models on the market, and you no longer need to leave your home to purchase your supply. Companies like Alensa offer online shopping for contact lenses, to help you save time and money while still complying with this new legislation. So if you want to be one step ahead, order your lenses now from Alensa because next time this message might be more than an April Fool's prank!
