A new international initiative to prevent glaucoma-related vision loss in low and middle-income countries aims to do so by building local healthcare capacity.
Keep Sight said its goal was to provide training for healthcare professionals in countries with the highest unmet need so they could screen at-risk populations, ensure early and accurate diagnosis and provide appropriate treatment and long-term care for patients with glaucoma.
Announcing the initiative in Dublin, Ireland, earlier this month, organisers said the joint initiative between Sightsavers, the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) and Allergan would kick off its first programme at a high-volume hospital in Nigeria. Training would be provided for 50 healthcare professionals there with the goal of screening 5,000 people, treating 500 patients and providing surgery for 70. The initiative planned to expand to screen 500,000 people in high-burden countries by 2021 and beyond, it added.
Sightsavers CEO, Caroline Harper said, "The greatest global needs in eye health today exist in developing countries, where typical barriers include inadequate human resources, poor infrastructure, a lack of awareness and limited access to medical treatments. This partnership is an example of the important and necessary alliances that are needed to fight avoidable blindness and deliver better services to patients. As 75% of sight loss can be cured or prevented it's an area where donors can have a very real impact.”
IAPB communications director Joanna Conlon added, "Glaucoma in Africa is poised to be a significant public health burden in the coming decade. Keep Sight is the kind of solution we need today."
