To ask the Minister of Health whether any consideration will be given to (i) reviewing the current Health and Social Care NI guidance preventing general ophthalmic services vouchers being used in association with myopia-management spectacles; and (ii) bringing Northern Ireland into line with the rest of the UK on this.

General Ophthalmic Services, (GOS), does provide help in the form of an allowance towards spectacles or contact lenses for all children under the age of 16yrs who are myopic and require a correction to improve their vision. This help towards health care costs is comparable to that provided in England and other parts of the UK.

While there is emerging evidence that some products may help slow the progression of myopia, such interventions are not routinely commissioned as part of General Ophthalmic Services in Northern Ireland. This reflects current limitations in the evidence base, including a lack of robust long-term data and clear clinical criteria to support routine use.

Funding of treatments without robust evidence-informed research confirming safety, efficacy and cost-effectiveness is not considered an appropriate use of health service budgets. Therefore, novel interventions for myopia control are not currently considered eligible for provision of help with costs. Such interventions are currently a privately funded purchase only in Northern Ireland and costs may vary depending on where the appliance is purchased. Available evidence to date does not indicate that any child is required to avail of myopia-control lenses and conventional lenses can be prescribed and dispensed to correct their short sight.

NHS funded provision of myopia control products is not universal elsewhere in the UK. In England, access varies depending on local commissioning arrangements, while NHS Scotland and Wales do not routinely provide financial support for these interventions. Currently, no commissioned pathways are in place to fully fund myopia control interventions for children across the UK.

The available research evidence for myopia is kept under review and I can advise that members of my Department’s Strategic Planning and Performance Group Clinical Ophthalmic Adviser teams are currently co-applicants on a National Institute for Health Research grant. This proposed study, led by Queen’s University Belfast, aims to evaluate optical myopia treatments in children across the UK and, if approved, will help to inform a consistent UK position and our regional policy.

My Department continues to monitor developments in clinical evidence and practice relating to myopia management and will consider any future proposals for service development in line with established commissioning and prioritisation processes.