"The vision care institute" opens in Milan

"The vision care institute", one of the most advanced training centers in the world for opticians, optometrists and opthalmologists has opened in Milan. The center, independent on a scientific level, is sponsored by the "Johnson&Johnson medical holding".

According to the opinion expressed by the company heads and American consul Deborah Graze, Milan is a crossroads for central southern Europe, and this institute will become an outpost for medicine for the whole of Mediterranean Europe.

The center is the second of its kind in Europe for the company (the first is in Prague), and the ninth in the world. With 6 laboratories equiped with the latest generation technology, it aims to offer experts in the field two free training seminars a week, each lasting two days. The 20 teachers, who will focus particularly on using contact lenses to correct eyesight, come from universities all over Italy and, according to those in charge, 'have been chosen on the basis of their representativeness and so they are independent''. When fully operational, the center aims to train at least a thousand specialists a year, both from Italy and south European countries.

The cost of setting up the center is estimated at around ''a few million euros'', however, it is a figure that the heads do not wish to comment on any further. The institute has also started working with the University of Milan-Bicocca, which runs a short degree course in optometry, while negotiations are currently underway with five other Italian universities.

Despite maintaining its independence, the institute has already started working with the the degree courses in optometry at the Bicocca University, and J&J is also establishing ties with the five other Italian universities that hold similar courses.

The Vision Care Institute center, located in Corso Europa, has an auditorium, two meeting rooms and six laboratories with technologically advanced equipment.

(Source: ANSA)