Afua Oteng Asare, OD, PhD, MPH, will discuss recommendations from a landmark National Academies report addressing the growing public health challenge of myopia.
The number of people with myopia, or nearsightedness, a condition that causes distant objects to appear blurry, is increasing rapidly worldwide.
Genetics play a role, but long periods of close-up work, such as reading and screen time, and less time spent outdoors are also contributing to the rise, particularly among children.
By 2050, an estimated 5 billion people—about half the world’s population—could be nearsighted. In the United States, myopia prevalence increased from about 25% in the early 1970s to 42% by 2004, according to the 2024 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine consensus report Myopia: Causes, Prevention, and Treatment of an Increasingly Common Disease.
As myopia progresses, it can increase the risk of vision-threatening conditions later in life, including retinal detachment, glaucoma, cataracts, and myopic macular degeneration. Children who develop myopia at younger ages have more time for it to progress as their eyes grow, increasing their risk of more severe myopia.
The problem raises an urgent public health question: How can health systems identify children at risk early and make sure they get the eye care they need?
John A. Moran Eye Center researcher Afua Oteng Asare, OD, PhD, MPH, who served on the expert committee that produced the report, is helping answer that question. On Sept. 15, she’ll share her expertise at a congressional briefing in Washington, D.C.
At the Capitol Hill briefing, organized with the Health Care Alliance for Patient Safety, Asare will discuss the report’s findings and recommendations on access to vision services and opportunities for public health programs to address the problem.
Taking Action on Myopia
The National Academies report calls for a coordinated public health response to myopia, beginning in childhood. Among its recommendations: encourage children to spend at least one hour outdoors each day; ensure children receive vision screening before first grade and a comprehensive eye exam when needed; and create a national system to track screenings, referrals, and whether children actually receive follow-up care.
“Myopia is often thought of as simply needing a pair of glasses, but the rapid increase we’re seeing makes this a much larger public health issue,” Asare said. “We have an opportunity to intervene early not only by identifying children who need care, but also by looking at prevention, access to treatment, and the systems needed to support healthy vision throughout their lives.”
The report also calls for better U.S. surveillance to understand how many children are developing myopia, continued research into environmental and biological causes, and the development and long-term evaluation of treatments that can safely slow progression.
The committee also recommended that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services classify myopia as a disease and medical diagnosis, a step intended to shift the focus beyond simply correcting blurry vision to preventing and managing a condition that can have lifelong consequences for eye health.
Closing the Gap Between Screening and Care
The challenge of connecting children with care is central to Asare’s work at Moran. Her research focuses on pediatric vision health, disparities in access to care, and practical ways health systems can improve screening, referrals, and follow-up.
Her latest research illustrates why that follow-through matters.
In a study published Aug. 17, 2026, in Frontiers in Medicine, Asare and colleagues evaluated an enhanced school-based vision-screening program in Kumasi, Ghana.
Among 1,123 children with complete screening data, 34% had a suspected eye disorder. Yet among 299 children whose referral follow-up could be assessed, only 32.8% completed a referral for additional eye care.
The study found that school-based screening can successfully identify children who may otherwise have untreated eye disorders. But it also exposed a critical gap: identifying a problem does not guarantee a child will receive care.
“Identifying a child with a vision problem is only the beginning,” Asare said. “We need to understand what prevents families from getting follow-up care and build systems that help children receive the treatment they need.”
Asare sees the Sept. 15 briefing as an opportunity to bring those challenges and potential solutions to the attention of policymakers.
“The report provides evidence about steps we can take now to protect children’s vision,” Asare said. “I’m looking forward to sharing that evidence with policymakers and discussing how we can translate it into public health strategies that make a difference for children and families.”