Towards a global solution
Brien A Holden, PhD, DSc, OAM, Chair and CEO of Optometry Giving Sight - 2007
The release, in October 2006, of the World Health Organization’s latest global estimates on blindness revealed that 153 million people in need around the world have uncorrected distance refractive error, making it the leading form of preventable blindness and vision impairment.*
During a recent meeting at the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness’ headquarters in Hyderabad, India, a strategic planning meeting focussed on the task of trying to determine how many eye care personnel would need to be trained to eliminate blindness and impaired vision due to refractive error by the year 2020 – and at what cost.
The good news is that their projections show that this task is eminently achievable, provided that enough local people are trained to provide access to eye care services in those communities where none currently exist. Funding will also be required to train and equip these personnel in the initial stages.
It is this commitment to the development of sustainable local programs that makes Optometry Giving Sight unique. I am delighted to report that thanks to the support of optometrists and their patients in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and United States, funds totalling more than US$100,000 have been allocated to priority projects in East Africa, South Africa, Sri Lanka and East Timor over the past 12 months.
I would like to thank our founding partners and national committees for their support in making these funds available, and our sponsors for their support in helping to develop the capacity of Optometry Giving Sight throughout the world.
Everyone involved with the organization strongly believes that Optometry Giving Sight represents a unique opportunity for optometry as a profession to develop a global solution for people who are needlessly blind – just for the want of an eye exam and a pair of glasses.
We look forward to working with each and every optometrist, patient, industry supplier, volunteer service provider and professional association to ensure that our industry plays its part in eliminating uncorrected refractive error and low vision by the year 2020 are delighted to welcome Brian Spiller as the new CIBA Vision Corporate Fellow to Optometry Giving Sight. Brian, who is Marketing Director of CIBA Vision Australia, will spend the next 12 months based in our Sydney office providing expert advice to our fundraising and marketing staff. He replaces Kristie Madara, who made an enormous contribution to our communications program during her 12-month secondment from Atlanta, U.S.
* This figure does not include the estimated 150 million additional people with presbyopia.
