International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness

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The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness
FormationJanuary 1, 1975;48 years ago (1975-01-01)
Type International nongovernmental organization [1]
PurposeGlobal prevention of blindness and vision impairment
Headquarters4-108, Devonshire square
London
President
Caroline Casey [2]
Vice President
Babar Qureshi [2]
Treasurer
Debra Davis [2]
Chief Executive
Peter Holland [3]
Affiliations WHO
International Council of Ophthalmology
World Council of Optometry
International Coalition for Trachoma Control
NTD NGDO Network
Website www.iapb.org

The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) is a global alliance of eye health organisations working for the prevention of blindness and vision impairment. IAPB was established in 1975 to work as an umbrella body for global blindness prevention activities. In 1999, IAPB and the World Health Organization launched Vision 2020: The Right to Sight, a global initiative to eliminate avoidable blindness, [1] [4] which has achieved some success, though it did not meet all its goals. [5]

Contents

Also known as: Agenzia internazionale per la prevenzione della cecità, Organisation mondiale contre la cécité, Organismo Internacional de Prevención de la Ceguera, and உலக கண்ணொளி தினம். [6]

History

IAPB was established on 1 January 1975 by the International Council of Ophthalmology and the World Blind Union with input from the WHO, to coordinate global efforts to tackle and eliminate avoidable blindness. [7] Sir John Wilson was its founder president. The founder members of IAPB included the International Council of Ophthalmology, the World Council for the Welfare of the Blind (later renamed the World Blind Union), the American Foundation for the Blind (later renamed Helen Keller International) and the Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind (later renamed Sight Savers International). [8]

IAPB has an official relationship with the WHO Program for Prevention of Blindness and Deafness, which is based in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1978, IAPB helped to set up a blindness prevention unit at the WHO. [9] In 1999, with the WHO, they launched Vision 2020: The Right to Sight. [4] In 2016, the IAPB published the Vision Atlas, [10] bringing together causes and prevalence data on blindness and vision impairment. It showed that over a billion people in the developing world cannot see well because they have no access to spectacles. [11] [12]

Purposes

The IAPB is an implementing and advocacy NGO. [1] It advocates globally for eye health to encourage the attention and resources needed to achieve universal access to eye care. It builds partnerships to generate change at local and international level, and provides information on eye health to enable the development of good policy and practice, including publishing resources in journal, books and a website. [13]

Organisational members

Activities

IAPB coordinates activities of more than 150 organizations in over 100 countries which cooperate to improve and ensure quality of eye care. These include professional bodies, non-governmental organizations, associations, foundations, and educational institutions. [14] The most influential program as of 2023 was the global initiative Vision 2020: The Right to Sight, which has been followed by 2030 In Sight. [9]

Vision 2020: The Right to Sight

The Vision 2020: The Right to Sight global campaign was launched on 18 February 1999 by IAPB and the World Health Organization (WHO). [15] [16] [5] The initiative was intended to use improvements in disease control, human resource development and infrastructure development to promote "A world in which nobody is needlessly visually impaired, where those with unavoidable vision loss can achieve their full potential" by eliminating or reducing the main causes of avoidable blindness throughout the world by the year 2020. Programs instituted under Vision 2020 facilitated the planning, development, and implementation of sustainable national eye care programs, including technical support and advocacy. [17] Vision 2020 was based on a plan published by the WHO in 1999, [18] and subsequently superseded by other global action plans from the WHO. [19]

The goal of Vision 2020 was to reduce the projected number of blind people in 2020 from 75 million to 25 million, by disease prevention and control, personnel training, eye care infrastructure improvement, use of appropriate and affordable technology and mobilisation of resources. The conditions which were identified as priorities were cataract, childhood blindness, onchocerciasis, trachoma, and uncorrected refractive errors. [4]

The 1998 World Health Report published an estimate of 19.34 million people who are bilaterally blind due to age-related cataracts, which was 43% of all causes of blindness. This number and proportion were expected to increase due to population growth and increased life expectancy approximately doubling the population in the over 60 years age group. The global increase in blindness from cataract is estimated at at least 5 million per year, and a figure of 1000 new cases per million population per year is used for planning purposes. The average outcomes of cataract surgery are improving over time, and consequently the stage at which surgery is indicated is becoming earlier, which also increases the number of operable cases. It is necessary to operate on more eyes per year than the new cases alone to reduce the backlog. [20]

The rate of surgeries in the economically developed countries as of 1998 was about 4000 to 6000 per million population per year, which was sufficient to meet the demand. India raised the CSR to over 3000, but this does not seem to be sufficient to reduce the backlog. The middle income countries of Latin America and Asia have CSRs of between 500 and 2000 per million per year, and China, most of Africa and the poorer countries of Asia had rates of less than 500. In India and South East Asia the rate required to keep up with the increase is at least 3000 per million population per year, and in Africa and other parts of the word with smaller percentages of older people, a rate of 2000 may be sufficient for the short term. [20]

The Vision 2020 initiative succeeded in bringing the issue of avoidable blindness to the global health agenda. The causes have not been eliminated, but there have been significant changes to the distribution of the causes, which can be attributed to global demographic shifts. Remaining challenges to management of avoidable blindness include population size, gender disparities in access to eyecare, and the available professional workforce. [5]

It has been estimated that there were 43.3 million blind people in 2020, and 295 million with moderate and severe visual impairment (MSVI), 55% female. The age-standardised global prevalence in blindness decreased by 28.5% between 1990 and 2020, but the age-standardised prevalence of MSVI increased by 2.5%. The global leading cause of blindness in 2020 remained cataract. [5]

By March 2022, 14 countries had reported achieving elimination goals for trachoma, but it remains hyperendemic in parts of rural Africa, Central and South America, Asia, Australia and the Middle East. Africa is still the continent most affected, and in which efforts to control the disease remain most intensive. Some mathematical models suggest that it may be possible to achieve this goal over the next decade. [5]

Onchocerciasis has been eradicated in Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Mexico, and significantly reduced in parts of Africa. Eradication appears to be possible and a new target for elimination has been set for 2025. [5]

Childhood blindness was found to be poorly represented in epidemiological data, which may underestimate the extent, and there is a need for improvement. Nevertheless recent estimates show a gradual decline in the rates. A need to increase the focus on primary healthcare and prevention to ensure early recognition and treatment of childhood blindness has been identified. [5]

One of the causes of visual impairment that is most straightforward to treat is uncorrected refractive error. There appears to have been a global reduction the prevalence of uncorrected refraction error causing poor vision during the project. The smallest reductions were in parts of Africa, and the greatest reductions in Latin America and parts of Asia. The number of people with vision loss due to uncorrected refractive error is expected to rise by 55% by 2050 as a result of population growth and increased average life expectancy. [5]

An important achievement of Vision 2020 was improving awareness of the burden of blindness. Getting prevention of blindness onto the healthcare agenda of the WHO and its member states ensured that those countries included allocations for eye care in their budgets. World Sight Day also helps to raise awareness of blindness and visual impairment. [5]

Between 1990 and 2020, the age-standardised global prevalence of blindness fell by 28.5%. In 2017 The Lancet Global Health Commission reported that avoidable blindness figures were set to triple to 115 million by 2050, but the latest data from the same journal has reduced that forecast to about 60 million This has been attributed in part to the function of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness in bringing together a community of active organisations, and providing a platform and voice for collective action. [21] [22] This report was based on data collected before the Covid-19 epidemic, and the effect of the epidemic was not yet known in detail, but was expected to have been a major setback. [21]

2030 In Sight

2030 IN SIGHT is a project following on from Vision 2020 associated with the WHO World Report on Vision, the Lancet Global Health Commission on Global Eye Health and the UN Resolution, Vision for Everyone. [23]

The objectives of the program are to eliminate unnecessary and preventable sight loss, to ensure that adequate eye care services are affordably available to everyone, and that everyone understands the necessity of taking care of their eyes. The complexity, scale, and ambition of the challenge are recognised. [24]

A conference to develop strategies for 2030 In Sight was held in Singapore in 2022 and another is scheduled for 2023. [25]

Vision Atlas

The IAPB Vision Atlas is a website resource providing information on factors affecting vision loss relevant to policy makers, health planners, eye health professionals, NGOs, patient groups and advocates. First published in 2016, [10] and launched at the 10th general assembly in Durban, South Africa in October of that year. [26] The 2020 version provides data, narrative and interactive presentation tools suitable for a broad audience. [12] The atlas is based on national indicators based on the 2014-2019 WHO Global Action Plan, and data and prevalence estimates from the Vision Loss Expert Group. [26]

World Sight Day

World Sight Day is marked on the second Thursday of every October. Started by the Lions Clubs International Foundation in 1999, it was handed over to IAPB who has been coordinating and supporting the day's marking ever since. [27]

Publications

The IAPB is known for research contributions in topics relating to population and visual impairment. Between 1975 and 2021, 57 authors have produced 85 publications, which have received at least 3286 citations. Papers usually relate to the topics: population, visual impairment, cataract surgery, public health and trachoma. [28]

The IAPB compiles lists of good practices and essential equipment for managing specific conditions in consultation with panels of experts. The first of these was the IAPB Essential Equipment List for screening and surgery for trachomatous trichiasis, which recommends the basic items required for high quality surgery under the conditions expected in endemic regions. [29]

The most widely held publications by the IAPB are: [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Near-sightedness</span> Problem with distance vision

Near-sightedness, also known as myopia and short-sightedness, is an eye disease where light from distant objects focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina. As a result, distant objects appear blurry while close objects appear normal. Other symptoms may include headaches and eye strain. Severe near-sightedness is associated with an increased risk of macular degeneration, retinal detachment, cataracts, and glaucoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cataract</span> Clouding of the lens inside the eye causing poor vision

A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that leads to a decrease in vision of the eye. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colours, blurry or double vision, halos around light, trouble with bright lights, and difficulty seeing at night. This may result in trouble driving, reading, or recognizing faces. Poor vision caused by cataracts may also result in an increased risk of falling and depression. Cataracts cause 51% of all cases of blindness and 33% of visual impairment worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Refractive error</span> Problem with focusing light accurately on the retina due to the shape of the eye

Refractive error is a problem with focusing light accurately on the retina due to the shape of the eye and/or cornea. The most common types of refractive error are near-sightedness, far-sightedness, astigmatism, and presbyopia. Near-sightedness results in far away objects being blurry, far-sightedness and presbyopia result in close objects being blurry, and astigmatism causes objects to appear stretched out or blurry. Other symptoms may include double vision, headaches, and eye strain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cataract surgery</span> Removal of opacified lens from the eye

Cataract surgery, which is also called lens replacement surgery, is the removal of the natural lens of the human eye that has developed a cataract, an opaque or cloudy area. The eye's natural lens is usually replaced with an artificial intraocular lens (IOL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visual impairment</span> Decreased ability to see

Visual or vision impairment is the partial or total inability of visual perception. For the former and latter case, the terms low vision and blindness respectively are often used. In the absence of treatment such as corrective eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment – visual impairment may cause the individual difficulties with normal daily tasks including reading and walking. In addition to the various permanent conditions, fleeting temporary vision impairment, amaurosis fugax, may occur, and may indicate serious medical problems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patricia Bath</span> First African American woman doctor to receive a patent for a medical invention

Patricia Era Bath was an American ophthalmologist and humanitarian. She became the first female member of the Jules Stein Eye Institute, the first woman to lead a post-graduate training program in ophthalmology, and the first woman elected to the honorary staff of the UCLA Medical Center. Bath was the first African-American to serve as a resident in ophthalmology at New York University. She was also the first African-American woman to serve on staff as a surgeon at the UCLA Medical Center. Bath was the first African-American woman doctor to receive a patent for a medical purpose. A holder of five patents, she founded the non-profit American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness in Washington, D.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blurred vision</span> Medical condition

Blurred vision is an ocular symptom where vision becomes less precise and there is added difficulty to resolve fine details.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SEE International</span>

Surgical Eye Expeditions International, or SEE International, is a nonprofit humanitarian organization based in Santa Barbara, California, that provides accessible vision care services to underserved communities internationally and in the United States. The organization was founded in 1974 by Dr. Harry S. Brown, and it connects over 700 volunteer ophthalmologists and other allied health professionals with host clinic sites around the world. These volunteer medical professionals travel to host clinic sites to participate in sight-restoring programs and educate local doctors to help create sustainable vision care systems in the areas. Its objective is to provide quality eye care and sight-restoring surgeries in communities that are overwhelmed with large populations of individuals who cannot afford, or do not have access to, this form of medical care. Since its establishment, SEE has screened over 4 million individuals and completed over 500,000 surgeries in over 85 countries.

Sightsavers is an international non-governmental organisation that works with partners in developing countries to treat and prevent avoidable blindness, and promote equality for people with visual impairments and other disabilities. It is based in Haywards Heath in the United Kingdom, with branches in Sweden, Norway, India, Italy, Republic of Ireland, the United Arab Emirates, and the US.

World Sight Day, observed annually on the second Thursday of October, is a global event meant to draw attention to blindness and vision impairment. It was originally initiated by the SightFirstCampaign of Lions Club International Foundation in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prevention of Blindness Trust</span>

Prevention of Blindness Trust, also known as the POB Trust and POB, is a project of Pakistan Islamic Medical Association. POB Trust was established and registered by Trust Act in July 2007 as a leading volunteer eye care organization with the sole mission of preventing blindness and preserving sight. POB Trust was declared exempted from tax in 2012 by Federal Board of Revenue (Pakistan) POB Trust endeavors to develop strategies for prevention and control of blindness and visual impairment. The prime objective of POB Trust is to promote and sustain a global campaign against all forms of avoidable blindness with emphasis on deprived communities. This initiative brings with it a great challenge and an exciting hope for all who work towards this goal. It is also a member of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness for the VISION 2020: The Right to Sight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organisation for the Prevention of Blindness</span>

The Organisation for the Prevention of Blindness is an international non-governmental organisation whose actions today focus exclusively on French-speaking countries in Africa. Their mission is to preserve and restore sight amongst some of the most under-privileged communities in the region. The OPC's principal actions concern blindness prevention, treatment and the elimination of blinding diseases, such as onchocerciasis, trachoma, glaucoma and cataracts as well as formal ophthalmological training.

The Brien Holden Vision Institute (BHVI) is an Australian nonprofit non-governmental organization with an international focus on eye care research and vision care delivery. Formerly the Institute for Eye Research, in 2010, it was renamed in recognition of co-founder and optometrist Professor Brien Holden OAM, a 1997 recipient of the Medal of the Order of Australia for his contributions to eye care research.

The Himalayan Cataract Project (HCP) was created in 1994 by Dr. Geoffrey Tabin and Dr. Sanduk Ruit with a goal of establishing a sustainable eye care infrastructure in the Himalaya. HCP empowers local doctors to provide ophthalmic care through skills-transfer and education. From its beginning, HCP responds to a pressing need for eye care in the Himalayan region. With programs in Nepal, Ethiopia, Ghana, Bhutan and India they have been able to restore sight to over one million people since year since 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Childhood blindness</span> Medical condition

Childhood blindness is an important contribution to the national prevalence of the disability of blindness. Blindness in children can be defined as a visual acuity of <3/60 in the eye with better vision of a child under 16 years of age. This generally means that the child cannot see an object 10 feet away, that another child could see if it was 200 feet away.

Niranjan Pranshankar Pandya is an Indian blind social worker and the secretary of Poona Blind Mens' Association, a non governmental organization working for the cause of visually impaired people of Pune and neighbouring areas. He was honored by the Government of India, in 2012, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri.

Gullapalli Nageswara Rao is an Indian ophthalmologist, the chairman of the Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis (AOI) and the founder of the L. V. Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad. A former associate professor at the School of Medicine and Dentistry of the University of Rochester, Rao is a Fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences, India. He was honored by the Government of India, in 2002, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri. He was elected in 2017 to the Ophthalmology Hall of Fame instituted by the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

Clare Gilbert is a British ophthalmologist, professor and researcher who focuses on blindness in children. She is based at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).

Eye Care Foundation (ECF) is an international charity organisation active in over 20 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin-America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bharti Kashyap</span> Indian ophthalmologist

Bharti Kashyap is an Indian ophthalmologist and social worker. She was honoured with Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2017 and is a five-time recipient of the National IMA for the welfare of the underprivileged section of social sciences.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB)". www.devex.com. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 "Governance". www.iapb.org. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  3. ↑ "IAPB Staff". www.iapb.org. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 Watkins, Rod B. (25 June 2001). "The management of global blindness". Clinical and Experimental Optometry. 84 (3): 104–112. doi:10.1111/j.1444-0938.2001.tb04953.x. PMID   12366321. S2CID   22499681 . Retrieved 5 March 2023– via onlinelibrary.wiley.com.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Abdulhussein, Dalia; Hussein, Mina Abdul (30 September 2022). "WHO Vision 2020: Have We Done It?". Ophthalmic Epidemiology. 30 (4): 331–339. doi: 10.1080/09286586.2022.2127784 . PMID   36178293.
  6. 1 2 "International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness". worldcat.org. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  7. ↑ Pizzarello, Louis; Abiose, Adenike; Ffytche, Timothy; Duerksen, Rainaldo; Thulasiraj, R.; Taylor, Hugh; Faal, Hannah; Rao, Gullapali; Kocur, Ivo; Resnikoff, Serge (April 2004). "VISION 2020: The Right to Sight: A Global Initiative to Eliminate Avoidable Blindness". Arch Ophthalmol. 122 (4): 615–620. doi:10.1001/archopht.122.4.615. PMID   15078680.
  8. ↑ Resnikoff, Serge; Pararajasegaram, Ramachandra (2001). Blindness prevention programmes: past, present, and future. Bulletin of the World Health Organization (Report). Vol. 79. pp. 222–226.
  9. 1 2 Corry, Michele (January 2020). "Organizations Working Toward the Prevention of Global Blindness". Cataract and Refractive Surgery Today. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  10. 1 2 "Sehbehinderungen könnten stark zunehmen". Spiegel Gesundheit (in German). 12 October 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  11. ↑ "A simple way to improve a billion lives: Eyeglasses". 5 May 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  12. 1 2 "News:IAPB Vision Atlas". cvph.preventblindness.org. Center for Vision and Population Health. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  13. ↑ "The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness". Canadian Ophthalmological Society. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  14. ↑ "Discover the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness". fondation.loccitane.com. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  15. ↑ Resnikoff, S.; Kocur, I.; Etya'ale, D.E.; Ukety, T.O. (2008). "Vision 2020 — the Right to Sight". Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology. 102 (sup1): 3–5. doi:10.1179/136485908X337409. PMID   18718146. S2CID   25176827.
  16. ↑ "VISION 2020". www.iapb.org. International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  17. ↑ "Vision 2020". www.aao.org. American Academy of Ophthalmology. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  18. ↑ Global Initiative for the Elimination of Avoidable Blindness. WHO/PBL/97.61 Rev.2 (Report). World Health Organization. 2000.
  19. ↑ Vision 2020: The Right to Sight (PDF). SEA-Opthal-118 (Report). Jakarta. 14–17 February 2000.
  20. 1 2 Foster, Allen, ed. (2000). "Vision 2020: the cataract challenge". Community Eye Health. 13 (34): 17–19. PMC   1705965 . PMID   17491949.
  21. 1 2 "Global blindness was slowing prior to pandemic study reveals". Orbis International: English. 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  22. ↑ Burton, Matthew J; Ramke, Jacqueline; Marques, Ana Patricia; Bourne, Rupert R.A.; Congdon, Nathan; Jones, Iain; et al. (several others) (16 February 2021). "The Lancet Global Health Commission on Global Eye Health: vision beyond 2020". The Lancet Global Health. The Lancet Global Health Commission. 9 (4): e489–e551. doi:10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30488-5. PMC   7966694 . PMID   33607016.
  23. ↑ "2030 On Sight". www.iapb.org. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  24. ↑ "2030 in Sight Summary Document (English)" (PDF). www.iapb.org. September 2021.
  25. ↑ "International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness Will Host '2030 IN SIGHT LIVE' in Singapore, June 25-26, 2023". Vision Monday. 13 January 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  26. 1 2 "Vision Atlas & The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB)". Global Vision Database. 5 July 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  27. ↑ "World Sight Day 2022: Date, history, and significance". India Today. 13 October 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  28. ↑ "Institution: International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness: Nonprofit: London, United Kingdom: Papers". Scispace. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  29. ↑ Balantrapu, T.V.; Hoare, P.J. (2015). "The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) Launches Essential Equipment List for Screening and Surgery for Trachomatous Trichiasis". Ophthalmic Epidemiol. 22 (3): 151–2. doi:10.3109/09286586.2014.947038. PMID   25098263. S2CID   36539550.
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