Growing myopia awareness drives MYC clinic expansion

High costs and insurance gaps challenge underserved area expansion.

The expansion of myopia control (MYC) clinics across the Asia-Pacific region is accelerating due to rising awareness and proactive efforts in managing myopia, particularly among children.

Maria Liu, Associate Professor at the UC Berkeley School of Optometry, USA said, “Myopia has always been a very, very big problem in the Asian population, and... the disease awareness and the proactiveness in managing this condition is much better in Asian countries than the rest of the world."

Despite this growth, extending these clinics to underserved areas presents challenges. "The number one [challenge] would be the relatively higher cost of the treatment and the lack of insurance coverage for most of the treatments," Liu noted.

Additionally, parents’ time commitment to support treatment adherence remains a concern. "How much effort they’re willing to put in to help their child in using those treatments with a good safety profile... could be another concern," she added.

Looking ahead, Liu envisions artificial intelligence (AI) playing a transformative role in myopia management and prevention. “AI will be able to help us understand patient data... a lot better than traditional statistical models,” Liu said.

“With a comprehensive understanding of the real-world data, we’re better able to profile the risk of a myopia onset as well as predicting the treatment efficacy,” she concluded, highlighting the potential for AI to improve both diagnostic accuracy and patient outcomes in myopia management across Asia.