![]() ![]() The causes of blindness and visual loss vary according to socioeconomic conditions and the availability of health and eye care services. ![]() 4 Low vision (<6/18 to 3/60 in the better eye) is estimated to affect approximately three to four times as many people as blindness. 2 Projections for the 1995 population reported an estimated 45 million blind people 3 and Frick taking into account population increase and increased life-expectancy suggested that, if services do not improve, there would be 76 million blind people by 2020. In 1984 this had risen to 31 million, in 1990 to 38 million. The first estimates of global blindness in 1978 reported 28 million blind people (corrected visual acuity in the better eye less than 3/60). This document explains the rationale, global strategy and, targets for the Vision 2020 programme. The work of the Task Force resulted in 1997 in publication of ‘The Global Initiative to Eliminate Avoidable Blindness’. This public–private partnership to control one specific blinding disease-onchocerciasis-was successful, and based on this experience the NGOs and WHO formed a joint Task Force in 1994 to address the problem of increasing global blindness. One outcome of this collaboration was the African Program for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC), a partnership between the World Bank, WHO, Merck Inc. Over the next 20 years a good working relationship developed between WHO/PBL and the international nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) involved in eye care. In 1975 the International Agency for Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) was formed and in 1978 the WHO established the Prevention of Blindness program (PBL).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |