On behalf of the organization committee, I am delighted to announce the 19^th IMC will be hosted by the AIER Eye Hospital Group in Sanya City, Hainan Province.

Hainan, a Chinese province and an island, is known as the oriental Hawaii. It sits at the southern part of China on the South China Sea. It implements a visa-free policy to 59 countries and attracts more than one million domestic and foreign travelers per year. It is rated as the most agreeable island for human in the same latitude for its natural beauty, delicious food, magnificent buildings, international spirit and the largest duty-free shop.

In the past years, IMC has played a vital role in raising international awareness about myopia and fostering research advancements in the field. 2024 marks the 60^th anniversary of IMC. It is a golden opportunity for us to join the 19^th IMC to commemorate this special occasion in Hainan and to gather global minds for detecting, treating and preventing myopia.

According to the World Report on Vision issued by WHO, myopia has troubled 2.6 billion people around the world by 2023 and the number is still growing. It is predicted that by 2025 half of population on this globe will be living with myopia if no effective actions are taken. We need to strengthen our efforts on placing myopia at the top of the global health agenda. We aim to utilize the existing resources and allocate more to this issue through knowledge exchange, fruitful discussions and international collaborations on this unique forum. It is our ultimate goal to prevent blindness from myopia in the generations to come.

Prof. YANG Zhikuan,
President, Local Organizing Committee
International Myopia Conference 2024

Prof. LAN Weizhong,
Executive President, Local Organizing Committee
International Myopia Conference 2024