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Magnitude of Blindness:
Today there are about 50 million blind people in the world and 135 million more
suffering from low vision. The numbers are staggering, and so is the fact that
more than 80% of this blindness is needless- which means it can be prevented or
cured. This is a huge problem- yes. But it is also a problem that we can and
must do something to fix.
The Solution?
More than 90% of the world's blind live in developing countries. In order to
help them a community-based approach to eye health is very important. This
means that people must be trained to deliver appropriate eye care that is both
affordable and accessible. Health workers must learn to plan, implement and
assess services to the community so that existing resources are used
effectively. Community participation plays a major role in this approach.
VISION 2020: The Right To Sight
This WHO initiative was designed to intensify and accelerate present day
blindness prevention programmes. Their goal is the elimination of needless
blindness by the year 2020.
Who Are We?
As the problem of blindness continues to grow, eye care managers everywhere are
now faced with the challenge of fast-tracking the implementation of VISION 2020
programs. To assist in this process, the
Lions Aravind Institute of Community Ophthalmology (a not-for-profit
that is part of The
Aravind Eye Care System, India) took on the responsibility of
conceptualizing, developing and running
VISION 2020 e-Resource with initial funding from the
International Eye Foundation, USA. Grants from SEVA Foundation
continue to provide resources to help continue and scale up this work.
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