Abstract

PIP: The number of blind and visually impaired is expected to double by the year 2020; 90% of blind people live in developing countries. It is estimated that 80% of the world's blindness is preventable or curable. The World Health Organization (WHO) and a consortium of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have launched the Global Initiative for the Elimination of Avoidable Blindness. According to Dr. Bjorn Thylefors, Director of WHO's Programme for the Prevention of Blindness and Deafness, the global initiative will focus on disease control, human resource development, infrastructure, and technology. Priority will be given to the following: 1) cataracts, with a backlog of 16-20 million cases; 2) trachoma, the most common cause of preventable blindness with some 5.6 million blind and 146 million active cases in need of treatment; 3) childhood blindness caused by vitamin A deficiency, measles, conjunctivitis in the newborn, or retinopathy of prematurity; 4) river blindness (onchocerciasis); and 5) refractive errors and low vision. Treatment for trachoma will follow the surgery, antibiotics, facial cleanliness, and environmental hygiene strategy. Dr. Thylefors believes trachoma can be eliminated globally by 2020.