Why Rose Optometry Leads Myopia Management in New Zealand

Back in 2009, Rose Optometry became the first clinic in New Zealand to establish a dedicated Myopia Management clinic. Today, as the WCO Asia Pacific Ambassador for Myopia, we continue to lead the way in innovation and treatment.
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Myopia is more than blurry vision - it increases the risk of eye diseases such as glaucoma, retinal detachment, and myopic macular degeneration. Research shows that slowing a child's myopia progression by just one dioptre reduces the lifetime risk of sight-threatening myopic maculopathy by around 40%, whatever their starting prescription (Bullimore & Brennan, Optometry and Vision Science, 2019).
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At Rose Optometry, we don’t simply prescribe single vision glasses. Instead, we offer evidence-based treatments to slow myopia progression, helping children protect their vision for life.

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Book a free myopia chat today.

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The treatments behind our myopia management programme

Since establishing New Zealand's first dedicated Myopia Management clinic in 2009, we've built our programme around evidence-based treatments rather than simply updating a child's glasses each year. The options we use include:

• MiYOSMART and Stellest spectacle lenses — specialised lens designs shown to slow myopia progression while giving clear everyday vision.
• MiSight contact lenses and ACUVUE Abiliti — daily disposable lenses designed specifically to slow myopia progression in children.
• Orthokeratology (ortho-k) — overnight lenses that reshape the cornea temporarily, giving clear daytime vision without glasses or contact lenses while also slowing progression.
• Low-dose atropine — a nightly eye drop used, often alongside one of the options above, to further slow progression.

Myopia is more common than many parents realise. New Zealand driver-licence data shows myopia affects around 22% of adults aged 25–44 (Xu, Collins & Phillips, Clinical and Experimental Optometry, 2026), and the earlier it is identified and managed in childhood, the more lifetime risk can be reduced — slowing progression by just one dioptre lowers the lifetime risk of sight-threatening myopic maculopathy by around 40% (Bullimore & Brennan, Optometry and Vision Science, 2019; Holden et al., Ophthalmology, 2016). You can read more about the condition itself on our myopia page.

Research: finding out what actually works in the real world

The treatments above all work — but which combination works best for a given child, in the real world rather than a trial setting, is still an open clinical question. Through the New Zealand Eye Research Centre, our team is developing new clinical protocols for myopia management and is currently preparing a five-year, multi-arm, multi-modality ethics application designed to answer exactly that: which real-world treatment combinations are most effective at slowing myopia progression. It's this ongoing research commitment, alongside our clinical caseload since 2009, that underpins our role as WCO Asia Pacific Ambassador for Myopia.

Myopia management: common questions

How long has Rose Optometry been treating myopia?

Since 2009, when we established New Zealand's first dedicated Myopia Management clinic. We've been offering structured, evidence-based myopia treatment to Hamilton families for over 15 years.

What is the WCO Asia Pacific Ambassador for Myopia?

It's a role with the World Council of Optometry recognising Rose Optometry's standing in myopia management across the Asia-Pacific region.

Is Rose Optometry involved in myopia research?

Yes. Through the New Zealand Eye Research Centre, we're developing new myopia management protocols and preparing a five-year, multi-arm, multi-modality ethics application to study which real-world treatment combinations work best for managing myopia progression.

What treatments does Rose Optometry offer for myopia management?

MiYOSMART and Stellest spectacle lenses, MiSight and ACUVUE Abiliti contact lenses, orthokeratology (ortho-k), and low-dose atropine — chosen for each child based on their age, lifestyle and how quickly their myopia is progressing.

At what age should myopia management start?

As soon as myopia is diagnosed and confirmed to be progressing, ideally in primary-school-aged children, since earlier treatment has more years of progression left to slow. Book a full examination so we can assess this properly.

Book a myopia management assessment or read more about myopia on our site.