The Caribbean Council for the Blind and the Foundation for Eye Care in the Caribbean hosted a workshop on Monday in preparation for the National Eye Health Strategic Framework for Guyana, which is aimed at preventing avoidable blindness by 2020.
According to the Government Information Agency (GINA), the event is in keeping with Vision 2020: the Right to Sight Global Initiative and it was a collaborative effort between government, the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) and sight savers.
Parliamentary Secretary at the Health Ministry Joe Hamilton noted that over the years the administration has entered into several partnerships, through Vision 2020, to address eye care. This has resulted in the establishment of the Ophthalmology Hospital at Port Mourant, Berbice and a partnership with Cuba, during which thousands of locals benefited from free eye care.
Hamilton noted that government is committed to putting measures in place to reduce avoidable blindness and to boost eye care in general, and it has established a committee to draft a plan to this effect. The plan is expected to address proper health care for persons who were born blind, reduce preventable blindness and ensure visually-impaired persons have access to facilities. Hamilton also noted that measures must be implemented to curb the bureaucracy of accessing health care for the blind, as disabilities are not oftentimes captured as a public health problem.
Meanwhile, the Senior Advisor on Sustainable Development and Environmental Health for PAHO/WHO, Adrianaus Vlugman, noted that 80 percent of blindness is avoidable globally, and, as a result, PAHO continues to collaborate with countries to ensure that avoidable blindness is eliminated by 2020. While blindness poses a serious public health threat to the region, it oftentimes results from conditions which could have been prevented or rather successfully treated, once detected early.
“To avoid this in the future, a full range of services must be offered which seeks to increase access to health services for rural residents and indigenous groups… PAHO/WHO has also been working in this area for many years and we have documented best practices for the prevention of blindness,” he said.
GINA said in 1999, PAHO/WHO supported the eye care consultation, which included the recommendations for the establishment of a plan of action for a comprehensive eye care programme, which will be implemented shortly.
While the PAHO/WHO’s first eye care workshop was held in March 2000, a Global initiative for vision 2020 was launched in July 1999, and according to Vlugman, support will continue to be given to Guyana to provide technical assistance in the area.
