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Countries urged to provide universal access to eye care services
Vision for the future: The World Health Organization calls on countries to deliver a universal access to eye care services as 80 percent of visual impairment is avoidable
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Vision for the future: The World Health Organization calls on countries to deliver a universal access to eye care services as 80 percent of visual impairment is avoidable. (who.int) (who.int)
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span class="inline inline-center">Vision for the future: The World Health Organization calls on countries to deliver a universal access to eye care services as 80 percent of visual impairment is avoidable. (who.int)
The World Health Organization's (WHO) South-East Asia Region Office is calling on its member countries to provide universal access to comprehensive eye care services for their people.
The WHO says there are 140 million visually impaired people in countries in the region, around 12 million of who are blind. More than 50 percent of all blindness is caused by cataracts, which account for 33 percent of visual impairments. Uncorrected refractive errors are responsible for 43 percent of the visual impairment in the region. Around 65 percent of visually impaired people are 50-year-old and above.
'These statistics should be viewed against the fact that 80 percent of visual impairment is avoidable. And that blindness prevention strategies and restoration of sight are among the most cost-effective interventions in health care,' WHO South-East Asia regional director Poonam Khetrapal Singh said on Wednesday.
She made the statement at an event to welcome World Sight Day themed 'Eye Care for All', which falls on Oct. 8.
To reduce avoidable blindness and visual impairment, Khetrapal Singh said all countries must ensure universal access to comprehensive eye care services.
'There is a need to review and reinforce existing measures so that nobody suffers visual impairment and those with unavoidable vision loss can still achieve their full potential,' she said.
The WHO Global Action Plan (GAP) for the Prevention of Avoidable Blindness and Visual Impairment 2014-2019 emphasizes improving eye health for everyone and reducing the prevalence of avoidable blindness and visual impairment by 25 percent by 2019.
'Implementing simple measures such as eye care services in schools can help detect and correct refractive errors in children. And quality surgical procedures can help cataract patients get back to a normal lifestyle very quickly,' said Khetrapal Singh.
World Sight Day gives an opportunity to raise public awareness of blindness and visual impairment, and advocate for the allocation of more resources for national blindness prevention programs.
'Together we can make VISION 2020, the global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness, a reality,' Khetrapal Singh said. (ebf)
