Glaucoma causes fluid pressure to build up inside the eye (intraocular pressure), damaging the optic nerve. It is one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide, and currently affects 57.5 million people, and is expected to increase to 65.5 million by 2020.
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The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is to lead a major new research project that aims to accelerate the elimination of trachoma. The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) is an alliance of civil society organisations, corporates and professional bodies promoting eye health through advocacy, knowledge and partnerships.
Organisation: IAPB
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Every 20th of November, the United Nations promotes international togetherness in spreading awareness among children worldwide and improving children’s welfare with the Universal Children’s Day. Celebrated since 1990, it is the date the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959, as well as, the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989. (more…)
French-speaking countries in West Africa joined forces to eliminate trachoma, the world’s leading cause of infectious blindness, under a new initiative spearheaded by The Task Force’s International Trachoma Initiative (ITI). Representatives discussed funding, logistics, and supply-chain management issues around the mass drug administration of antibiotic for eliminating trachoma as a public health problem. (more…)
This day marks World Sight Day, and organizations from all corners of the optical industry around the world gather to make their voices count. World Sight Day (WSD) is an annual day of global awareness on blindness and vision impairment co-ordinated by IAPB under the VISION 2020 Global Initiative.
Based on a new global data report published by IAPB Vision Atlas, 253 million people are visually impaired while 89% of these people live in low- and middle-income countries. Moreover, localised and restricted environment in marginalized communities, such as ill-planned infrastructure and technological barriers, confers eye health challenges to children. (more…)
World Sight Day (WSD), held every second Thursday of October, is an annual day of awareness focusing global attention on blindness and vision impairment. Running in its fifth year of the WHO Global Action Plan, The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) encourages participants to continue with its rolling theme on Universal Eye Health, WHO’s Global Action Plan of 2014-19. The plan supports the provision of effective and accessible eye care services for effectively controlling visual impairment including blindness. (more…)
Four years ago, Essilor, the market leader in ophthalmic optics with the mission to improve lives by improving sight, created dedicated teams to reach the 2.5 billion people across the globe who don’t have access to the vision correction they need. Since then, Essilor has launched and scaled-up new inclusive business models and deployed many non-profit initiatives to improve access to vision care in developing (and developed) nations. (more…)
Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) causes babies to needlessly lose their vision. It is one of the leading causes of blindness in premature infants in India.
INDIA, (IAPB), April 27, 2017 — The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust and the Public Health Foundation of India are launching a Retinopathy of Prematurity Initiative in the western state of Maharashtra. The project will train staff to screen for ROP, provide support services, and conduct research to tackle the disease.
India has the largest number of preterm births in the world. “Our goal is to help support sustainable and scalable services for the detection and prevention of severe retinopathy of prematurity which are integrated into the Government of India’s health care system”, explained Dr. Astrid Bonfield, Chief Executive at the Trust. (more…)
Glaucoma affects at least one in every 25 people aged 40 years and above in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It occurs as a result of the intraocular pressure (eye pressure [IOP]) being too high for the normal functioning of the optic nerve which is responsible for sight. Despite the vision loss that it causes, over half of the people with glaucoma are unaware and this is reflected in their late presentation in seeking care. (more…)
CHICAGO (March, 2017) – Prevent Blindness, the oldest volunteer eye health and safety group in the USA, and Allergan (NYSE: AGN), a global leader in eye care for nearly 70…