• Child health (paediatrics)

The recent publication by Rohit et al evaluated the efficacy of 0.01% atropine in controlling myopia progression among Indian children over a 2-year period.1 A total of 732 myopic children aged 6–14 years from 20 centres were included, and all received 0.01% atropine eye-drops once daily. The authors found that, during the first year, there was a relative reduction of 64% in myopia progression, and during the second year, the efficacy was 11% more, as compared with the first year. Furthermore, individual treatment response was found to be associated with age and initial myopia severity, with a weaker effect in younger children and in children with higher baseline myopia.

The main strength of this study was that the patients were recruited from 20 centres located across various regions all over India. Thus, this Pan-India study design can potentially reflect the efficacy of low-concentration atropine on India children. As of today, India is the country that has the most population around the world, and that its myopia prevalence is increasing rapidly. Given the potentially blinding complications associated with myopia such as myopic macular degeneration, retinal detachment, cataract and glaucoma,2 myopia is posing a heavy health and economic burden on India. While low-concentration atropine had been proved to be …