Myopia, the most common vision disorder, also known as shortsightedness in English and adur dristi in Nepali, is the inability of the eye to focus sharply on distant objects. Therefore, if you are nearsighted, you will have problems seeing faraway objects clearly, but you will be able to read and use your computer without problem. According to a report published by the World Health Organisation (WHO), there were an estimated 158 million cases of myopia worldwide in 2007. By some estimates, one-third of the world’s population—2.5 billion people—could be affected by shortsightedness by the end of this decade.

Although no single cause can be attributed for the rise of this vision problem, more and more studies have correlated myopia to the increase in the number of hours that people (and specially children) spend reading or in front of their TV or smartphone screens.  

East Asia, where the prevalence of myopia was just 10-20 percent of its population 60 years ago, is now home to the largest percentage of nearsighted young people. This region is not just known for its obsession with electronic gadgets, but also for its intensely competitive education system and aggressive work environments, all of which are taking a toll on the eyes of the people. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an average 15-year-old in Shanghai now spends 14 hours a week on homework, compared with five hours in the United Kingdom and six hours in the United States. In places like South Korea, the problem is still more severe. A recent research done among 19-year-old South Koreans found that almost 90 percent of the people belonging to this age group suffered from nearsightedness. Even in our country, myopia has increased with soaring school-enrollment numbers, an increasingly competitive school education system and with the widespread use of the Internet and smartphones.  

Although the ubiquity of the disease might lead us to regard it as a minor health problem, it must not be treated as such.  Untreated myopia is one of the major causes of visual impairment. Further,

nearsightedness is widely regarded as an important cause of poor performance in and high dropout rates from schools in the developing world. High myopia, classified as an error of minus six (-6) or more, may result in changes in the retina that may eventually lead to its detachment, causing severe visual problems and/or blindness.

Due to the increasing importance placed on educational achievement, cutthroat competition in the job market and easy availability of modern electronic gadgets , Nepali children and adults are already starting to spend longer hours indoor and in front of their books and computers. As a result, cases of vision-related problems like myopia are bound to go on increasing in the future, resulting in additional burden to the already fragile health-care system of the country.

Given that the disease is a product of modernity and modern lifestyle, which we have so whole-heatedly embraced, it would be difficult to reverse the trend. But there are certain things that can be done to help curb this increase. A recent research conducted in Australia and China indicates that the risk of myopia is lower in children who spend more time outdoors. So if we can implement programmes like compulsory participation in outdoor activities during class recesses, emphasise outdoor sports in schools, and raise public awareness about the causes of myopia and ways to avoid it, then we might be able to tackle this problem better.

Khanal is a Kathmandu-based consultant optometrist and vision specialist