Myopia is the most common optical disorder in the world, and is on the rise in many countries, particularly in East Asia. The impact of myopia is evident as the driving force in the development of refractive surgery and of the spectacle and contact lens industries. While myopia is often seen as a childhood disease that involves complex genetic-environmental factors, it is also a major cause of adult blindness. In Singapore (where myopia has reached one of the highest rates in the world) as well as in Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong, affected patients have greater severity of myopia, leading to add |