Impact and Trends in Global Ophthalmology
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RETINA (R GOLDHARDT, SECTION EDITOR)
Impact and Trends in Global Ophthalmology Lloyd B. Williams 1,2 & S. Grace Prakalapakorn 1,2,3 & Zubair Ansari 4 & Raquel Goldhardt 4
# Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Purpose of Review Our goal is to provide a review of the impact, global estimates, and projection of vision impairment as well as ongoing systems for eye care delivery. Recent Findings Many of the blinding diseases in developing countries are preventable or curable, but the lack of ophthalmologists, the lack of education, and the lack of access to any eye care are some of the major obstacles encountered. Summary As our world becomes more interconnected through globalization, the interactions between different cultures and populations increase. Global ophthalmology is a field dedicated to building sustainable eye care delivery systems to deliver highquality care in minimal resource settings, with the aim of reducing blindness around the world. Keywords Global ophthalmology . World Health Organization . Cataract . Diabetic retinopathy . Trachoma . Glaucoma . Coronavirus
Introduction On October 8, 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a World Report on vision that stated there are over 2.2 billion people with vision impairment or blindness worldwide, and over 1 billion of those have conditions that could be treated or prevented [1]. Globally, the burden of vision impairment and blindness is greatest in low- and middle-income countries. Despite effective and relatively low-cost interventions, refractive error and cataract remain the largest causes of vision impairment and blindness. There is expected to be an increasing demand for global eye care due to an aging population, changing lifestyles (leading to increased lifestyle-related blindness (e.g., diabetes)), and population growth. The global eye health report indicates several challenges in meeting this anticipated This article is part of the Topical Collection on Retina Lloyd B. Williams and S. Grace Prakalapakorn are co-first authors. * Raquel Goldhardt [email protected] 1
Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
2
Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
3
Department of Pediatrics, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
4
Department of Ophthalmology, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 900 NW 17th St, Office #275, Miami, FL 33136, USA
demand, including poor data to aid in planning and lack of integration of eye care into overall healthcare systems. The WHO Global Action Plan emphasizes a delivery model relying on primary eye care as an approach to tackle visual impairment. One recently reported example of primary eye care enhancement is the Global Sight Initiative [2]. The Global Sight Initiative is a strategic initiative of the Seva Foundation and supports a collection of non-governmental organizations and eye hospitals collaborating to reduce blindness and increase services. Vision centers in this model aim to
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