The World Health
Organization (WHO) just released its first ever world report on vision,
identifying global “significant challenges” in vision health. Today, the
American Academy of Optometry (AAO) announced a commitment to rise to those
challenges.
The first step will occur
during the joint meeting of American Academy of Optometry and World Council of
Optometry taking place October 23-27, 2019 at the Orange County Convention
Center in Orlando, FL. The meeting, known as Academy 2019 Orlando and the 3rd World
Congress of Optometry, will feature a plenary discussion on Wednesday, October
23 at 10:00 am featuring leaders from WHO and AAO. That session and the entire
meeting are open to credentialed media.
The World report on vision
says 2.2 billion people have some form of vision impairment, of whom 1 billion
have an impairment that could have been prevented or is yet to be addressed.
The report anticipates a growth in those numbers over the next few years and
calls for stakeholders including eye care practitioners and policymakers to
help shape a global agenda on vision to help stem the crisis.
AAO Board President, Dr.
Barbara Caffery believes the report will be crucial in uniting the entire
vision health community to address the problem. “Optometrists and all of the
disciplines within vision care have the skills and opportunity to bring about
profound change around the world,” she said. “We believe this report will
galvanize the issue and trigger a coordinated effort. At AAO, we are ready to step
up and fight this battle.”
The WHO report identifies
universal vision coverage, standardization of practice methods and a global
disparity in quality of care among a series of barriers to world-wide vision
care improvement. As one of the world’s leading vision care membership and
advocacy associations, AAO accredits optometrists and inspires the highest
standards of evidence-based care, a critical component of WHO’s path forward.
“The American Academy of
Optometry is in a unique position to help educate and train the workforce that
can solve this problem. We will also help push for the standardization of care
while we advance the inclusion of optometry into standard practice where it is
not currently recognized,” said Dr. Caffery. “AAO is ready to put the full
weight of our organization behind this global effort.”
The World report on vision
will be a defining topic throughout Academy 2019 Orlando and the 3rd World
Congress of Optometry next week. The meeting will draw more than 8,000
optometrists, ophthalmologists, vision care professionals, students, support
personnel and media to Florida, to discuss the latest optometric developments,
trends and strategies. The Wednesday, October 23 Plenary session at 10:00 am
will focus on the report and begin to define how optometrists can play their
crucial part in addressing its findings.
Over the coming months, AAO
will hold discussions and develop strategies to raise awareness and address the
findings of the WHO report while defining a path for members to share their
talents. “Our members are well trained and highly skilled,” said Dr. Caffery.
“We have the ability to affect significant change for vision-impaired people
around the world and we are committed to doing it.”
