Leading cause of blindness in some part of world is myopia (short sightedness)

I was recently asked to contribute to a supplement on myopia mangement for Optometry Today. The section I added to was on early adopters. It’s a huge global health issue which seems to get no mainstream media coverage yet. The link to the whole article is here.

As well as trying to stop prescriptions increasing (and therefore reduce risk of various eye diseases) there is now a move to look at prevention with pre-myopes. These are primary school aged kids and the main answer is time outside - which has a lot of other health benefits too (physical and mental), as well as the the potential sight saving goal.

In our country health funding always seems to be fire fighting and prevention/public health initiatives always sit behind the in your face issues - like waiting at A&E and trying to get a GP appointment. But, a time outside for young people policy really does seem to be one of those things that ticks so many boxes - especially if it led to making safe and enjoyable active travel a possibility for kids on the way to school.