The International Myopia Summit

IAPB together with the Singapore Eye Research Institute co-hosted the International Myopia Summit, in January – the third in a series that began back in 2018 with the aim of building consensus amongst a diverse group of stakeholders: IAPB Members, Clinicians, researchers, the private sector and funders.

This year’s meeting was the first since Covid, so it provided a crucial opportunity to re-set and identify the collective stakeholder priorities. By the end of the meeting, these were identified as:

• Creating a unified voice to governments through evidence, global political engagement, and national advocacy for policy and system change
• Development of evidence – low disability weight, lack of cost data, social and economic impact.
• Progression of integrated advocacy on preventative measures with other health areas – eg mental health, obesity, diabetes,
• Global guidelines for myopia prevention and treatment
• Collective set of guidelines, tools and relevant information for practitioners

As IAPB, we agreed to take forward the following initiatives:

• Facilitate members working in myopia to kickstart work in a collective approach to the development of guidelines for practitioners on myopia treatment and control.
• Facilitate the consolidation of available evidence to influence at the Global Eye Health Summit that IAPB will be convening in late 2025/26
• Continue to work with WHO in the development of the SPECS initiative to ensure the consideration of preventative, control and treatment strategies. This may include engaging with WHO on global guidelines for myopia prevention, treatment and control
• Convene a next phase round table discussion at 2030 IN SIGHT LIVE (this June in Mexico City) to ensure momentum and accountability for actions

We look forward to seeing you there!