The Beehive and Parliament House will take centre stage for eye health. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Eye Health Aotearoa (EHA) and the Parliamentary Friends of Eye Health are hosting an event at Parliament House on Wednesday 27 July to promote eye health equity and service access, and push for New Zealand’s first national eye health survey.

Kicking off this year’s ‘Love Your Eyes’ eye health awareness campaign, the event includes a eye health check for parliamentarians. It is expected to attract a big audience, including associate health minister Peeni Henare and other MPs, said John Mulka, Blind Low Vision NZ CEO and EHA chair. During the house dinner break at 6-7pm, EHA will launch the ‘Eye Care in Aotearoa New Zealand 2022 – Eye Care Situation Analysis Tool Report’, authored by Pushkar Silwal, Renata Watene and Associate Professor Jacqueline Ramke with the School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Auckland. The report summarises key aspects of the current NZ eyecare situation and includes an assessment of which areas of eye health are well developed compared with those that need strengthening.

New Zealand is the first advanced health economy to assess its eyecare situation using the 2021 World Health Organisation’s Eye Care Situation Analysis Tool and the significance of the report will be covered by international guest speaker Drew Keys, regional programme manager (Western Pacific), International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB).

New Zealand eyecare professionals can support the EHA by signing its National Eye Health Survey Petition and promote it to their colleagues, patients and community networks.