SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): More people in Singapore are developing eye conditions such as glaucoma at a younger age, in their 40s and 50s.
This is likely due to untreated myopia in these earlier generations of Singaporeans, who did not have many treatment options in their growing-up years.
Studies have shown that untreated myopia leads to elongation of the eyeballs, and such structural changes may lead to the weakening of the eye and optic nerves, leading to a higher risk of subsequent eye conditions.
They include glaucoma, where the eye pressure rises because of a build-up of fluid inside the eye. This may damage the optic nerves and lead to blindness.
The newly established Myopia Society of Singapore has urged parents to be aware of myopia developing in their children, and to take early action to prevent or delay its progression.
If they can prevent their children’s eyeballs from becoming permanently elongated, severe vision loss in adulthood could be averted.
Data from the Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) – the designated national centre for eye care in the public healthcare sector – showed that the number of glaucoma operations performed on patients aged 40 to 49 nearly tripled from 22 in 2015 to 60 in 2025.
The number of procedures performed on those aged 50 to 59 also almost doubled from 95 in 2015 to 183 in 2025.
This is significant considering glaucoma usually affects those aged 60 and above, said Dr Foo Li Lian, clinical director of myopia service at SNEC.
Greater access to screening programmes, such as diabetic eye screening and corporate health screenings, could also have led to more people being diagnosed with glaucoma earlier, leading to surgery being conducted for younger patients.
According to a JAMA Ophthalmology journal paper published in 2015 on the Singapore Epidemiology of Eye Diseases (SEED) Study, the prevalence of glaucoma in those aged between 40 and 49 here was around 11.4 per cent.
The prevalence was 22.1 per cent for those aged between 50 and 59; 29.4 per cent for those aged between 60 and 69; and 37.1 per cent for those aged 70 and 80.
Myopia, or short-sightedness, is an eye condition that makes faraway objects appear blurry when the eyeball grows too long, resulting in light rays entering the eye not focusing sharply on the retina – the part of the eye which is sensitive to light.
High myopia refers to severe short-sightedness of 600 degrees and beyond.
The SEED high myopia study of around 9,000 adults aged between 40 and 80 showed that 36 per cent (more than 3,200 adults) have myopia, and 6 per cent (more than 540) have high myopia, said Professor Saw Seang Mei, who is the principal investigator of the SEED study and an epidemiologist who specialises in eye diseases.
The study conducted around 2010 also showed that among those with high myopia, about 30 per cent (more than 160 adults) suffered from its main complication – myopic macular degeneration (MMD).
The macula is the part of the retina with the highest concentration of cones – a type of eye cell sensitive to light.
Those with high myopia had excessive elongation of the eyeball, which resulted in the stretching and thinning of the retina, especially at the macula.
These individuals face the risk of MMD, which can ultimately lead to vision loss, said Prof Saw, who is also the Distinguished Wallace Foulds Professor at the Duke-NUS Medical School.
She said that based on figures of those who had myopia when they were serving national service in 1996, an estimated 13 per cent of them who are now aged between 45 and 55 years have progressed to high myopia.
Considering the MMD rate is about 30 per cent among those with high myopia, this would mean that about 4 per cent of those aged between 45 and 55 in the Singapore population now have MMD, added Prof Saw.
Department of Statistics data showed that in 2025, there were 610,993 Singapore residents aged between 45 and 54. This means there could be at least 24,000 residents with MMD.
New society seeks to address the significant health problem of myopia
As myopia remains a significant public health issue in Singapore, with high myopia rates over the past few decades, a group of optometrists, ophthalmologists, paediatricians, general practitioners and researchers in eye care and vision science banded together to form the Myopia Society of Singapore.
Dr Foo is the society’s founding president, and Prof Saw its honorary founding member.
The good news is that Singapore’s myopia rate for Primary 1 pupils has dropped from around 30 per cent in the mid-2000s to around 26 per cent in recent years.
This improvement was brought about with early detection and timely interventions, including the Health Promotion Board’s efforts to screen children from Kindergarten 1 to Primary 4 annually for myopia.
But Dr Foo said that such a positive trend should not lead to complacency because of the lifelong risks of high myopia.
However, a local industry report on the take-up rates of myopia control interventions found that of those prescribed myopia-control lenses, less than 10 per cent eventually purchase the lenses, said Ms Adeline Yang, secretary of the Myopia Society and an optometrist by training.
One of the reasons is the much higher costs of the lenses. A pair of myopia-control lenses can cost around $580, significantly higher than normal lenses, which could go up to $200.
Ms Yang said that there are a few hundred “copycat” products in the local market which claim to work like the scientifically proven products.
While the “copycat” products appear to be safe without side effects, the repercussions are that the myopia is not actually controlled, added Prof Saw.
The society will put out a consumer guide within the year to better educate consumers on how to purchase the right products for their children, in a market not well regulated by the local authorities. It intends to tap social media to more effectively reach out to young parents.
The society, formally registered on Dec 26, 2025, also aims to ensure robust scientific evidence is used to inform and align local clinical practice, added Dr Foo.
This will be done through the publication of consensus guidelines, drawn up in consultation with researchers and hospital clinicians, that lay out the current best practices for eye care.
The consensus guidelines on the management of childhood myopia in Singapore are currently under review by the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, and its College of Ophthalmologists.
It will also conduct community eye health events in 2026 to enhance public education and offer eye screenings for both adults and children.
Dr Ng Wei Yan, treasurer of the society and a consultant paediatric ophthalmologist at SNEC, acknowledged it will take time for the public to take myopia more seriously.
“Myopia has been normalised in our society for a long time. For health conditions such as cancer, which could be fatal, the need for preventive screening has only sunk in after decades.
“It will take time for our messaging on vision care to sink in too,” said Dr Ng. -- The Straits Times/ANN
