12 October 2017

World Sight Day 2017 – Eye care organisations worldwide unite to reduce avoidable blindness and ‘Make Vision Count’

FODO is joining with eye care organisations the world over today in pledging to cut the prevalence of avoidable blindness and 'Make Vision Count'.

The call from the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), the alliance of eye care organisations, comes with the release of data yesterday from the Vision Loss Expert Group

(VLEG) in Lancet Global Health, showing that decades of declining 'avoidable blindness' is plateauing, and is projected to increase.

The paper warns that an ageing and growing population, combined with an increase in Myopia and Diabetic Retinopathy could potentially lead to a tripling in blindness by 2050. Uncorrected Refractive Errors, Cataracts and Age-related Macular Degeneration and Glaucoma were the main causes of blindness or Moderate and Severe Visual Impairment (MSVI) in 2015, the paper also reveals.

The IAPB has also updated its 'Vision Atlas' to feature prevalence maps for every country from 1990 to 2015 and projections to 2020. It also examines progress towards meeting World Health

Organization Global Action Plan targets to reduce avoidable vision impairment by 25% by 2019.

FODO Chief Executive David Hewlett said:

"The updated IAPB Vision Atlas is a great new resource for highlight the huge amount of work still to be done to improve access to eye care across the world and reduce avoidable blindness. It's time to step up to the task and Make Vision Count!"

For further information and access to online resources, see the World Sight Day campaign website.