AQW 51748/22-27

Ms Kellie Armstrong
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 11/09/2026
Answered On Date: 02/10/2026
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health whether any estimate has been made of the financial impact on families of children requiring myopia management lenses that are not eligible for support through the health service optical voucher scheme.

Answer:

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 16 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.

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.

Decisions regarding the commissioning of new services or treatments must be informed by robust clinical evidence, assessments of cost-effectiveness, and consideration of available resources across the health and social care system.

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.