Eye Health Aotearoa (EHA) has launched a draft Eye Health Action Plan to improve eye health in Aotearoa and is inviting New Zealand’s eyecare practitioners to provide input.

The action plan is aligned with the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists’ (RANZCO’s) ‘Vision for Aotearoa New Zealand’s Eye Healthcare to 2030 and beyond’ strategy, said Jelena Zidov, a senior policy analyst at Blind Low Vision NZ and EHA representative. It outlines EHA policy recommendations to parties contesting the 2023 general election, asking them to commit to preventing avoidable blindness in New Zealand, she said.

Based on findings from the ‘Eye Care in Aotearoa New Zealand 2022: Eye Care Situation Analysis Tool (ECSAT)’ report commissioned by the EHA last year, the plan focuses on underlying issues common to the prevention and treatment of eye diseases and vision loss, said Zidov. It includes seven recommended actions, six being short term (2024-2025), including appointing a clinical director of eye health within the ministry of health (MoH), establishing a national eye health and vision loss prevention leadership group in MoH, mapping the pathway for social inclusion in eyecare by identifying barriers and effective solutions, funding Aotearoa’s first national eye health survey, increasing general education on the importance of eye health and integrating patient-centred referral processes in the new national health information system. The seventh, long-term action (2026-2035) is to use the improved evidence to develop, implement and evaluate the 2027-2030 Eye Health Action Plan.

The draft action plan is available from https://www.eyehealthaotearoa.org.nz/draft_action_plan_2023. Feedback and suggestions should be emailed to secretariat@eyehealthaotearoa.org.nz by 4 August.