HOYA Vision Care, together with a panel of global experts, policymakers, industry leaders, and advocates, have called for a coordinated global strategy to manage childhood myopia.
On World Children’s Day (20 November), they joined forces to advocate to publish ‘Tackling the Myopia Crisis: Uniting Frontline Care, Policy, and Thoughtful Innovation’ – a landmark consensus statement that declares childhood myopia as a public health emergency and charts a unified path forward through coordinated global intervention.
Four critical recommendations were put forward for government and healthcare systems to drive systemic change:
- Mandate universal paediatric vision screening for preschool age upwards,
- Prioritise myopia management intervention upskilling in continuous professional educational programs for eye care professionals,
- Integrate healthy visual habits including mandated time outdoors, myopia awareness initiatives, and myopia-focussed educational activities within school curricula and community hubs. and
- Recognise that these measures should be implemented alongside wider policies to address childhood health inequalities, digital wellbeing, and universal health coverage, ensuring no child’s future is limited by preventable vision impairment.
a 2024 study proved that myopia control interventions are cost-effective… making inaction not just harmful but economically indefensible
An Innovative Approach
Marius de Beer, Chief Sustainability Officer, HOYA Vision Care, said myopia is a “growing challenge” that “clearly calls for an innovative approach and long-term commitment to improve the next generation’s health, well-being and their journey through life”.
“Not only do we feel this as part of our purpose, but we are inspired to help resolve this crisis through transformative partnerships across healthcare, policy and education. Ultimately early detection, care, and awareness will result in a future where myopia no longer limits potential. Our vision is clear; true success will come when we all stand together to make healthy sight a universal right, not a privilege,” Mr de Beer said.
Inaction Economically Indefensible
Childhood myopia, or short-sightedness, is escalating at a rapid pace, emerging as one of the most urgent public health challenges of our time. By 2050, it is estimated to affect 52% of the global population, double the 27% affected in 2010.1 Hundreds of millions of these are children who will face lasting medical, social, and economic consequences throughout their lives. The economic burden is staggering; in 2015 alone, productivity losses from uncorrected myopia in adults totalled US$244 billion globally2, demonstrating how childhood myopia creates lifelong consequences that ripple across economies and societies. Yet a 2024 study proved that myopia control interventions are cost-effective well below World Health Organization (WHO) thresholds, making inaction not just harmful but economically indefensible.3
Despite these stark realities, health systems worldwide remain unprepared to respond at the scale and speed required. Millions of children, particularly those in underserved communities, lack access to even basic vision care, while the evidence-based interventions that could protect their sight remain underutilised.
WHO representative Dr Stuart Keel, said that as a major public health concern, myopia demands “integrated, people-centred approaches at every level of care”.
“The WHO SPECS 2030 Initiative supports countries in developing sustainable eye care strategies that prioritise refractive error services and myopia management. Partnerships such as this roundtable demonstrate how coordinated global action can drive real impact – but only if we move from consensus to implementation.”
Professor Dominique Bremond-Gignac, Professor of Ophthalmology, France, said: Children’s vision cannot wait for bureaucratic timelines; France’s experience proves that early policy action delivers measurable impact. When governments, clinicians, and industry work together with urgency and purpose, myopia management can be integrated into standard of care quickly and effectively. Other nations must follow suit.”
HOYA Vision Care is at the forefront of shaping global eye care, actively contributing to the WHO SPECS 2030 initiative, which aims to increase refractive error coverage by 40% by 2030. Through their ‘One Vision’ program, HOYA Vision Care is driving meaningful initiatives that unite employees and external stakeholders to sustainably build resilient, healthier communities worldwide.
