As with any other field, the ophthalmic developments happening in the Western hemisphere versus what is happening in the Eastern hemisphere (e.g., in Russia, China and Japan) can sometimes appear quite opaque to one another.
As much as global accessibility is advocated in science and medicine, there still exist cultural – as well as medicolegal – barriers that stand in the way of true global collaboration. And there will always be governments that are generally reluctant to give too much away to their economic competitors.
Naturally we gravitate towards what we know and can immediately comprehend. The same can be said from an editorial perspective: we write about things we can understand, and so, whether consciously or not, we bias our coverage to the West – to the US and the UK and our European neighbours – whose cultures and regulations don’t differ too much from our own.
But if we really pause to consider it: what is happening in ophthalmology outside of the Western hemisphere?
If we look at the market, the Middle East and Asia are both expanding. The Asia-Pacific market is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 7-9% throughout the next decade, and a more conservative CAGR estimate of 3.6% has been given for the Middle East and African market (from 2025 to 2030). This steady market growth is driven by a range of factors, including (as in the West) the rising ageing population, the increased prevalence of conditions such as cataracts, diabetes and retinal diseases, as well as growing health awareness and education around the importance of eye care.
Then, if we consider things in less macroeconomic terms and delve into examples of specific institutions responsible for driving this growth in individual countries, we can see some interesting trends in ophthalmology.
In China, for example, the world’s largest ophthalmology hospital chain, the Aier Eye Hospital Group, headquartered in Changsha, Hunan, reported a staggering 20 million outpatient visits and over 1.5 million surgical procedures in 2024 alone. For our most recent Sitting Down With… interview, our Editor Julian Upton sat down with Aier’s Vice President, Elaine Zhang, who spoke about what the group is doing for ophthalmology in the country, as well as its continued expansions into Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, and into the West (Europe and North America).
It’s an interesting conversation, one in which Zhang highlights that the type of success Aier are currently experiencing, with their fusion of Eastern and Western ophthalmology practices, is a success that’s reliant on trust and mutual respect. “Successful integration,” she says, “is about cultural blending and uniting as one family.”
This issue of unity comes, as Zhang points out in the interview, in the shape of one specific aim that’s inherent to most – hopefully all – ophthalmologists working in the field today, no matter where they are based. “Doctors, whether in the East or West,” Zhang observes, “share the same fundamental motivation: the desire to help patients and perform surgeries well.”
As much as global accessibility is advocated in science and medicine, there still exist cultural – as well as medicolegal – barriers that stand in the way of true global collaboration. And there will always be governments that are generally reluctant to give too much away to their economic competitors.
Naturally we gravitate towards what we know and can immediately comprehend. The same can be said from an editorial perspective: we write about things we can understand, and so, whether consciously or not, we bias our coverage to the West – to the US and the UK and our European neighbours – whose cultures and regulations don’t differ too much from our own.
But if we really pause to consider it: what is happening in ophthalmology outside of the Western hemisphere?
If we look at the market, the Middle East and Asia are both expanding. The Asia-Pacific market is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 7-9% throughout the next decade, and a more conservative CAGR estimate of 3.6% has been given for the Middle East and African market (from 2025 to 2030). This steady market growth is driven by a range of factors, including (as in the West) the rising ageing population, the increased prevalence of conditions such as cataracts, diabetes and retinal diseases, as well as growing health awareness and education around the importance of eye care.
Then, if we consider things in less macroeconomic terms and delve into examples of specific institutions responsible for driving this growth in individual countries, we can see some interesting trends in ophthalmology.
In China, for example, the world’s largest ophthalmology hospital chain, the Aier Eye Hospital Group, headquartered in Changsha, Hunan, reported a staggering 20 million outpatient visits and over 1.5 million surgical procedures in 2024 alone. For our most recent Sitting Down With… interview, our Editor Julian Upton sat down with Aier’s Vice President, Elaine Zhang, who spoke about what the group is doing for ophthalmology in the country, as well as its continued expansions into Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, and into the West (Europe and North America).
It’s an interesting conversation, one in which Zhang highlights that the type of success Aier are currently experiencing, with their fusion of Eastern and Western ophthalmology practices, is a success that’s reliant on trust and mutual respect. “Successful integration,” she says, “is about cultural blending and uniting as one family.”
This issue of unity comes, as Zhang points out in the interview, in the shape of one specific aim that’s inherent to most – hopefully all – ophthalmologists working in the field today, no matter where they are based. “Doctors, whether in the East or West,” Zhang observes, “share the same fundamental motivation: the desire to help patients and perform surgeries well.”
