Eye care Development
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) about 284 million people are
visually impaired worldwide: 39 million are blind and 245 have low vision. About 90%
of the world’s visually impaired people live in developing countries, with cataracts
remaining the leading cause of visual impairment. The Asia-Pacific region accounts
for 73% of moderate to severe visual impairment and 58% of blindness.
RANZCO contributes to the reduction in avoidable blindness and visual impairment
in Asia-Pacific by increasingly engaging with educational institutions in the region
to help ensure high quality ophthalmic education and professional standards for eye
care in the region and through our membership of advocacy peak bodies
Vision2020 Australia and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness
(IAPB).
Our partnership with Pacific Eye Institute and Fred Hollows Foundation New Zealand
has commenced to further strengthen the Institute’s capacity to train world class eye
doctors from across the Pacific and we are engaging others elsewhere in the Pacific
islands region, and also in Cambodia, Vietnam and Timor Leste to further contribute
to ophthalmic education and professional standards.
Whilst the number of people visually impaired from infectious diseases has greatly
reduced in the last 20 years globally, the incidence of trachoma in Australian
indigenous community remains a priority concern.
In this regard RANZCO will seek further engagement with communities,
Ophthalmologists working in indigenous communities and abroad, and other
stakeholders to contribute to the eradication of the disease.
For further information contact RANZCO,
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or 02 9690 1001
