The need to address the myopia pandemic: summary report of the global myopia public health summit 2024

The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes myopia as a significant public health concern, as its prevalence has been rising at an alarming rate worldwide. In the WHO's Global Action Plan for the Prevention of Avoidable Blindness and Visual Impairment 2014-2019, myopia has already been identified as a major target for action. However, the attention paid and measures taken to treat this target is significantly diverse across the globe. This report presents the summary of the Global Myopia Public Health Summit jointly organized by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), the Asia Optometric Congress (AOC), and Aier Eye Hospital Group in September 2024. The summit centered on the public health, clinical challenges, and practical barriers faced in different regions of the world, along with strategic recommendations for myopia prevention and control. The summit has concluded: (1) although myopia prevalence is rising globally, population-based data remain limited in many regions; (2) common challenges such as limited awareness of myopia, the high cost of interventions, and the lack of continuing education for practitioners should be addressed; (3) while effective interventions are crucial for controlling myopia, their cost-effectiveness needs to be evaluated both at the individual and societal levels; (4) countries like China, where government-led initiatives have integrated school vision screening, reduction of education burden, compulsory increase of outdoor activities, and advocacy for eye health awareness, offer valuable experience and lessons for other countries or regions facing similar myopia epidemics.

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Publication Details

Journal
Global Health Research and Policy
Published
2025-09-23
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s41256-025-00445-7
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
4.06

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article

The need to address the myopia pandemic: summary report of the global myopia public health summit 2024

Amanda Davis, Ian G. Morgan, Lakshmi Shinde, Kathryn Rose et al.
3 citations
Global Health Research and Policy
Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies
4.06
article

The need to address the myopia pandemic: summary report of the global myopia public health summit 2024

Amanda Davis, Ian G. Morgan, Lakshmi Shinde, Kathryn Rose, Wei Pan, Hakan Kaymak, Olga Prenat, Zhikuan Yang, Mark Rosenfield, Lisa A. Ostrin, Dunia Siu-Villaseñor, Kah Ooi Tan, Oliver Woo, Weizhong Lan, Jong Mei Khew, Ian Flitcroft, Yan Wang, Pirindhavellie Govender-Poonsamy, Kazuo Tsubota, Jun Ma, Jia Qu
article en
3 citations

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes myopia as a significant public health concern, as its prevalence has been rising at an alarming rate worldwide. In the WHO's Global Action Plan for the Prevention of Avoidable Blindness and Visual Impairment 2014-2019, myopia has already been identified as a major target for action. However, the attention paid and measures taken to treat this target is significantly diverse across the globe. This report presents the summary of the Global Myopia Public Health Summit jointly organized by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), the Asia Optometric Congress (AOC), and Aier Eye Hospital Group in September 2024. The summit centered on the public health, clinical challenges, and practical barriers faced in different regions of the world, along with strategic recommendations for myopia prevention and control. The summit has concluded: (1) although myopia prevalence is rising globally, population-based data remain limited in many regions; (2) common challenges such as limited awareness of myopia, the high cost of interventions, and the lack of continuing education for practitioners should be addressed; (3) while effective interventions are crucial for controlling myopia, their cost-effectiveness needs to be evaluated both at the individual and societal levels; (4) countries like China, where government-led initiatives have integrated school vision screening, reduction of education burden, compulsory increase of outdoor activities, and advocacy for eye health awareness, offer valuable experience and lessons for other countries or regions facing similar myopia epidemics.

Global Health Research and PolicyVol. 10(1)
University of Technology Sydney (AU), Australian National University (AU), Central South University (CN), Sun Yat-sen University (CN), Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa (MX), Peking University (CN), Keio University (JP), International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (GB), Wenzhou Medical University (CN), American Optometric Association (US), Affiliated Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College (CN), Fred Hollows Foundation (AU), EssilorLuxottica (France) (FR), Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CN), Zhejiang Lab (CN), Essilor (France) (FR), International Association for Human Values (IN), Technological University Dublin (IE), Vasan Eye Care Hospital (IN), He Eye Hospital (CN), Guizhou Academy of Sciences (CN), University of Houston (US), SUNY College of Optometry (US), Saarland University (DE), University of KwaZulu-Natal (ZA)
International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness
Openalex Percentile: Top 6%
Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies
4.06
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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