Mingguang He, MD, PhD

The worldwide prevalence of myopia is expected to increase from 1.4 billion people at present to 4.7 billion people by 2050. More alarming is the suggestion from a recent meta-analysis that the prevalence of high myopia will increase by more than 300% to approximately 938 million people by 2050. Myopic retinopathy has become a leading cause of blindness worldwide.

According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 285 million people are visually impaired worldwide, with 39 million people who are blind and 246 million people who have low vision. About 80% of all visual impairment can be avoided or cured.