How we can all collaborate to protect eyes throughout the world

By 2050, half of the world’s population is predicted to have myopia, also known as short-sightedness.

Once it sets in, myopia tends to get worse and will affect the individuals throughout their lifetime.

High myopia is connected to difficult long-term complications that may lead to irreversible blindness, such as glaucoma and retinal detachment – so early intervention is critical to lifetime vision health.

To tackle the rising burden of myopia and the widening vision health gap, we need to work collectively. Only then can we truly underline the importance of its prevention.

Vision-friendly behaviours that reduce myopia’s onset and its progression are well-established but aren’t being routinely upheld.

Time spent outdoors is one of the most important of these behaviours, in addition to resting the eyes whenever possible, particularly when focusing on near work such as screens and homework.

However, since the pandemic, children’s screen time has increased and outdoor activity decreased. This has resulted in rising prevalence and progression of myopia – especially in younger children.

To combat this trend, it’s crucial that parents, teachers and children are educated on the importance of vision-first preventative behaviours.

Schools have a responsibility to ensure that their policies around work and play time promote these healthful habits. The Ministry of Education in China, for example, recommends spending less than 20 minutes per day on electronic homework and prohibiting phones and tablets in classrooms.

Increasing our focus on myopia’s prevention also means that children, parents and teachers will be more perceptive around noticing onset and development of the condition and be able to step in before it is left to progress.

The key is to now go beyond behavioural advice and prevent myopia from worsening, thanks to developments in vision care technology.

You only know how the world looks through your own eyes. Without education about vision, how would you know if you aren’t seeing correctly?

No matter where children are in the world, there’s a strong chance that they and their caregivers are not properly aware of eye health.

Without awareness of and preventative measures against myopia, there lies a ‘butterfly effect’ risk on the well-being of children as they develop into adults with myopia.

Underperformance at school might make building a career a struggle, and high myopia’s potential complications can significantly burden the healthcare system. We therefore should approach the problem from all angles to ensure that the importance of vision care and myopia prevention is understood.

Parents and teachers should be able to identify signs of myopia even in young children so that measures can be put in place and progression prevented as soon as possible.

This early intervention will also stem the impact on the child’s educational performance and emotional well-being.

We need to collaborate to ensure that this valuable knowledge reaches parents and teachers.

It’s with children’s well-being in mind that we attended the Global Health Summit in Geneva, pushing governments and policymakers to act now and ensure that these parties are equipped to enable access to vision health.

By increasing awareness and education around myopia, we can make sure that eye care professionals can act as early and effectively as possible to stem its progression.

Public-private partnership has resulted in brilliant protocol development grounded in research, and continuous education for eye care professionals is key to ensuring these protocols are properly withheld.

Industry actors are well-placed to support here by delivering training and educational materials for clinicians, patients and parents.

Governments must take action to enable access to eye care, such as prioritising eye screenings for children in national health policies.

Institutions need to seek opportunities for community engagement, raising awareness at schools and amongst paediatric eye care professionals with educational workshops and materials.

To really reach parents, we need to speak to them through as many channels as possible. This is why public health campaigns, such as #ActNow, are so important.

Creating change doesn’t have to mean significant resource spend – but it does mean working hard towards the same mission.

That’s where HOYA Vision Care is encouraging governments and public health bodies to prioritise the quality of life of children by educating them as much as possible on preventative solutions available today.

We’re committed to collaborating with industry actors, universities and other bodies to raise awareness, provide education and further global understanding of how best to prevent and manage myopia.

Young children affected by myopia cannot advocate for themselves, so we therefore must represent their voices whenever we can.

Campaigning really can make an impact for children with myopia: after hard work and collaboration to drive home its importance, the Swiss government is now reimbursing myopia management solutions for children.

Alexandre Montague is Chief Executive Officer at HOYA Vision Care.
Go to hoyavision.com