Death, taxes and myopia

In a 1964 film, brilliant early 20th Century nanny, Mary Poppins regularly claims that a spoonful of sugar ‘helps the medicine go down’. Over the 53 years which have since elapsed, research has consistently highlighted that up to 50% of all medicines prescribed for long term conditions are not taken as prescribed. Are policy makers ignoring Poppins’s apparently sage advice or is the problem of ‘non-adherence’ to medicines more complex than Poppins’s simple solution suggests? This talk will explore reasons for, and the implications of ‘non-adherence’ to medicines.

In 1789, Benjamin Franklin famously penned: ‘… but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death or taxes.’ With the prevalence of shortsightedness around the world increasing at an alarming rate will myopia one day be added to Franklin’s list of inevitabilities in life? By 2050 it is predicted that half the population will be myopic. Already in countries such as Taiwan and South Korea, over 80% of school age children have myopia. But why do we care and what can be done? This talk will explore why it is essential to slow down the runaway myopia train.