HYDERABAD: In an attempt to find solutions for the visually impaired and help reduce avoidable blindness among people, LV Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) along with International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) is organising a workshop from November 18-20.
The three-day workshop will be attended by 64 delegates from across the globe, including IAPB’s chief executive officer Peter Auckland. The delegates will be discussing key aspects of eye health delivery, universal health coverage and country action plans, among others. The workshop, which will have group discussions and lecture sessions, will also see representation from 11 countries in South East Asia, WHO Geneva, SEARO, IAPB and other organisations. “We will try to come up with a regional plan to ensure that nobody is avoidably blind and those with permanent vision loss live to their fullest,” Dr Taraprasad Das, IAPB South East Asia regional chair and vice-chair, LVPEI. “As many as 90 per cent of the world’s visually impaired can be found in developing countries, but then so are the solutions,” he said while addressing the press on Tuesday.
“We will be working out a district-oriented plan to detect diabetic retinopathy and diabetic myopathy and treat it accordingly. We will also be sending eye surgeons to institutions all over India,” he added.
In May 2013, WHO launched a ‘Global Action Plan’ for prevention of avoidable blindness and visual impairment. The Action Plan urges member nations to bring down the rate of blindness and visual impairment to 25 per cent by 2019.
VISUAL CHALLENGE
■ 285 million people are visually impaired worldwide -- 39 million are blind and 246 million have low vision
■ Preventable causes are as high as 80 per cent of the total global visual impairment burden
■ 90 per cent of the world’s visually impaired live in developing countries
■ Four out of five cases of visual impairment are avoidable
■ Plan to reduce avoidable blindness down by 25 per cent