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EYE CARE ORGANIZATIONS
IAPB & WHO Working Toward Integrated, People-Centered Eye Care by Chow Ee-Tan
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n integrated, equally distributed, people-centered eye health system is the way forward, and the government should put people and community — not diseases — at the center of health. This is the message from Dr. Amanda Davis, regional chair of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), Western Pacific, in her welcome message at the 2020 Asia Optometry Conference. Founded in 1975, IAPB is the premier eye health body that brings together a network of 160 member organizations from around the world. One of its important roles is to create
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and disseminate knowledge and to be a facilitator and key partner to many agencies, regionally. Recently, it has formed an important partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO). The partnership resulted in WHO releasing its first-ever World Report on Vision in 2019, which provides a comprehensive overview of eye health worldwide. The report provides recommendations and strategic framework to guide action at the national, regional and global level for the next decade, said Dr. Davis, who oversaw the growth of the IAPB’s public health division and also assisted in the development of eye
| February 2021
care services in 54 countries. Dr. Davis said the report provides a critical moment to inform and persuade global leaders about the magnitude and unacceptability of vision loss globally. Thus, the finding is very relevant to the region — and also to the conference.
Lower income areas bear the burden The report showed that at least 2.2 billion people worldwide have vision impairment. “Out of these, at least one billion have vision impairment that could have been prevented or have yet to be addressed,” she said, adding that people in low- and middle-income countries are four times as likely to have vision impairment. “This is the challenge that we are facing. We know that one-third of the world population is impacted, and services are out of reach for eye care because the facilities and welfare is
