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WHA Update - Day 1: Dr Chan Mentions Action Plan on Avoidable Blindness and VI
In her address to the World Health Assembly yesterday, Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the WHO mentioned the three global Action Plans that will be placed before the Assembly. In her speech, she says,
"...Ladies and gentlemen,
You will be considering three draft global action plans, for noncommunicable diseases, mental health, and the prevention of avoidable blindness and visual impairment.
All three plans call for a life-course approach, aim to achieve equity through universal health coverage, and stress the importance of prevention. All three give major emphasis to the benefits of integrated service delivery.
Global strategies and action plans make an important contribution to international coordination and promote a unified approach to shared problems.
But sound health policies at the national level matter most."
You can read the full text of her inaugural address here, For more updates, do follow us on Twitter, and watch this space!
IAPB Standard List - Phil Hoare's Update
Philip Hoare runs the IAPB Standard List - the world's only online procurement portal for essential eye care products and devices. In his first blog, Phil writes about his meetings in Australia - and reveals plans for a forthcoming blog.
I have just recently returned from a personal trip to Sydney, and whilst there I took the opportunity to visit and meet a few of our IAPB member organisations, namely The Fred Hollows Foundation (FHF), Brien Holden Vision Institute (BHVI), Scanoptics and The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO). It was such a pleasure to meet new and old contacts during the visit, all of whom made me extremely welcome. During my meetings with them I was able to update them all on the current activities and future plans for the IAPB Standard List, which I will expand upon in a later blog.
I would like to individually thank Amanda Davis (BHVI) for agreeing to support the Standard List content by the inclusion of the BHVI Durban Global Resource Centre range of spectacles which will feature in full very shortly, Stephanie O’Connell (BHVI) for her contribution to the 9GA, Katrin O’Sullivan (FHF) and Tanya Harris (FHF) for the continued collaboration in the consortium and my offer of procurement consultancy support, Bronya Fraser-Hills (FHF) with regard to the ARCLIGHT Ophthalmoscope project, Gerhard Schlenther (RANZCO) for his offer of support via their various publications and Anjula Thaper (SCANOPTICS) for travelling from Adelaide to meet me at the Fred Hollows office to discuss their range of products which currently feature on the Standard List and to introduce her to the Fred Hollows Foundation.
The Online IAPB Standard List continues to welcome new registrants with free access for all member organisations and their partners. The Standard List, as you know, is the world’s first online procurement platform for eye care providers in developing countries. Those interested, can register here:-
Philip Hoare,
Procurement Coalition Manager (IAPB Standard List), IAPB
Procurement Coalition Manager (IAPB Standard List), IAPB
Western Pacific Member States draft a regional plan for eye health
Damian Facciolo, Regional Program Manager, Western Pacific, IAPB, writes on a regional consultation to develop a regional action plan in line with the Global Action Plan, likely to be adopted soon at the World Health Assembly.
The World Health Organization (WHO) hosted a regional consultation this week to develop a Regional Action Plan (RAP) on Blindness and Visual Impairment for the Western Pacific Region. Held in Manila, the three-day meeting determined regional priorities for efforts to prevent avoidable blindness, and was the first meeting of its kind for the Region.
WHO’s Regional Director for the Western Pacific, Dr Shin Young-Soo opened the consultation, saying that good vision is often taken for granted and that eye care needed to be integrated into health systems. Dr Shin also acknowledged the Australian Government’s support for WHO’s blindness prevention program in the region.
Representatives from the governments of Japan, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Mongolia, the Philippines, Australia, the Solomon Islands, Samoa, Vanuatu, Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, the Federated States of Micronesia and Vietnam came to Manila for the consultation. Observers and technical advisers from IAPB Western Pacific Region, CBM, Peking Union Medical Hospital, the Fred Hollows Foundation, Pacific Eye Institute and Vision 2020 Australia also contributed to discussions.
Participants heard presentations from IAPB, Vision 2020 Australia and the Fred Hollows Foundation, as well as advice from WHO experts on nutrition, health systems, non-communicable disease and disability. Country representatives were divided into two groups to discuss national strengths and weaknesses and workshop actions and indicators.
Critically, Western Pacific representatives had a unique opportunity to reflect on how activities will be implemented at a national level and work through challenges and barriers. Many participants now see the RAP and global plan as ‘road maps’ for national action to prevent avoidable blindness and will be important for advocacy and aligning work of health ministries, WHO and NGOs in the future.
Participants from Samoa, Viet Nam and the Federated States of Micronesia used discussion on the RAP to further work on their national plans. For Lao PDR, the Consultation helped to guide the re-establishment of that country’s national committee.
The RAP is a response to the draft global action plan, which will be tabled at the World Health Assembly later in May. The RAP will be presented at WHO’s Western Pacific Regional Committee Meeting in October. To view a copy of the draft RAP or find out more, please contact IAPB Western Pacific.
Damian Facciolo,
Regional Program Manager, IAPB Western Pacific
Regional Program Manager, IAPB Western Pacific
Barcelona Breakthrough: Vision & Ageing
Peter Ackland writes from a conference on Ageing and Vision loss.
I have just spent two excellent days with representatives of organisations of the blind, older people's groups and vision groups, who met to discuss the importance of vision and ageing and the merits of collaborating together. The meeting was organised by the International Federation of Ageing and the Macular Disease Foundation Australia and was attended by representatives of 12 countries, including China and Brazil plus North America and European countries.
I think there is a very strong case for establishing close links between organisations of older people and vision groups particularly in the higher income countries, and potentially some of the BRICS countries, to pursue a joint advocacy and public awareness effort to improve eye health in the older population. Not so sure about the poorer countries, where I think the issues are very different.
The new Action Plan for universal eye health 2014-2019 which we all anticipate will be adopted at the World Health Assembly in May 2013, will propose actions for all Member States - so an alliance of older persons' organisations and vision groups would be a timely way of pressing for implementation at country level. With the ageing global population I am sure more representative groups of older people will emerge in many countries and they have the potential to become great allies to further better eye health messages.
Really interesting work presented by Dr Ian Philp, a gerontologist, on the Easy Care Assessment tool http://www.easycare.org.uk/instruments designed to enable older people themselves (or with support) to identify their own health and social priority concerns - good section on vision - and something I am sure the vision professions should engage with.
Peter Ackland
Chief Executive officer
Prof Clare Gilbert: Plans for the Future
Alessandro Di Capua (with support from B V Tejah) interviews Prof Clare Gilbert after she announces her retirement plans...
Before 1990, information on the causes and magnitude of visual impairment and blindness in children was fragmented or non-existent. In fact, there was no agreed system for classifying the causes of blindness in children.
In 1993, Clare Gilbert and other staff at the International Centre for Eye Health (ICEH) worked with the World Health Organization to develop a system of classification which is now widely used , providing data on almost 40,000 blind children from a large number of countries. Clare collected much of the early data, visiting over 20 countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa. She also realized that there was an association between under-5 mortality rates and the prevalence and pattern of causes of blindness in children, allowing estimates to be made of the likely magnitude of blindness and causes in different regions. Blindness in children was included in VISION 2020: The Right to Sight, on the basis of this realization and that strategies for control are different for children than for adults.
“My own personal interest is in blindness in children and what can be done about that. I always try to keep some threads of that going on”, Clare says. Sitting in her office, it is easy to see how she increased awareness of the need to specifically consider the eye health needs of children in planning and service delivery. Papers, charts, pictures and books line her busy room. As she talks animatedly about her numerous projects it is hard to imagine that she plans to retire in 5 years. As she says, she has “a busy in-tray”!
As part of the process of describing the differing pattern of causes of blindness in children, Clare was instrumental in identifying the growing incidence of blindness from retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in middle-income countries. Through numerous workshops in Latin America and Eastern Europe she has raised awareness of the problem, and the need for programmes of control. Indeed, ROP has been one of PAHO’s main priorities in Latin America and is an increasing focus of IAPB in Eastern Europe. This is timely, as the challenge of ROP is likely to dramatically increase, as neonatal care expands in the future (see WHO: “Born too Soon”, 2012).
Over the next five years, Clare has three issues on her wish-list:
- The inclusion of eye care for children into primary health care for children in Africa. If this can be achieved, then eye care will become part of the usual care of children attending Maternal Child Health services, reaching a very high proportion of mothers and their young children
- To develop models of service delivery for glaucoma in Africa, “because we can’t simply wave our hands and say it is too complicated”.
- To help achieve a shift in emphasis with regards to ROP, “with the responsibility for detecting infants needing laser treatment shifting from visiting ophthalmologists to the neonatal team”. This approach has the potential to greatly increase the coverage of screening and treatment.
It is easy to be worried about the future of eye health, as the looming epidemic of diabetes retinopathy and the continuing challenge of glaucoma will need different approaches and mindsets. Clare though remains resolutely optimistic. She sees a strong role for IAPB, by not just linking together expert-groups in eye care with the wider NCD groups but by also identifying and nurturing a new generation of eye health leaders. “If we support the undoubted talent out there to develop their leadership, managerial and research skills the future of eye health will be in safe hands”, she signs off.
Alessandro Di Capua,
Membership Manager
IAPB BoT meeting, Bangkok: What to Expect?
IAPB Board meetings are an important part of our calendar. Alessandro Di Capua, IAPB's Membership Manager, gives us a peek into the preparations for the next board meeting in April...
The IAPB’s Board of Trustees will be meeting for the first time in 2013 during 8 and 9 April in Bangkok.
The location was chosen, I must admit, for purely logistical reasons – the board used to meet following a rota system among regions, meaning that often board members (busy CEOs and Presidents with brimming travel schedules) had to literally fly around the world to reach the host country. About a year ago the practical decision was taken to hold board meetings (when not coinciding with the Council) wherever it was most convenient to do so: in places easy to reach, without challenging visa requirements and with good business facilities. Bangkok ticked all the boxes (plus a fourth one probably relevant only to me - I haven’t been there yet!). In the end, the impact of a board meeting is really about the quality of the decisions made in the meeting room. And better these decisions are likely to be when those taking them are not fuzzy with jetlag or worn down by travel and logistics...
The key discussion topic at this meeting will be the new IAPB Strategic Plan for 2013-17. A draft is already in place following extensive consultation with the wider membership and the trustees will have the opportunity to refine and sharpen our strategic aims and objectives for almost half of the meeting. Another interesting item on the agenda will be a presentation from Astrid Bonfield, CEO of the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust on their plan to make avoidable blindness a key priority. The Trust is looking to invest substantial funds in eye health projects, with particular focus on trachoma, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy in commonwealth countries.
This is the first time the board meets in full with the new officers and regional chairs elected in September at the 9th General Assembly (a total of 5 new trustees, 20% of the board). It will be a great opportunity for the newcomers to join in, as well as for the board as a whole to find new and healthy dynamics. This is key, as the board’s decisions do ultimately have an impact on eye health around the world. The fact then that the new IAPB strategy is top of the agenda is therefore ideal to stimulate conversations and create constructive dialogue.
Personally, attending board meetings is always a very insightful experience and I am often impressed by the commitment and dedication of our trustees to the cause of eye health. I can really feel that we are all working towards the same goal, even if at times we may have differing opinions on how to get there. In the end, it is from the plurality of differing points of view and approaches coming together over two days inside a meeting room (and often outside it, at breakfast, over a drink or dinner), that the best strategic plans and decisions gets made.
The sort of plans that do not settle for a minimum common denominator, but that aim high, to achieve the sort of change that none of the organisations represented at the table would have achieved on their own. And this is what IAPB is all about.
Alessandro Di Capua
Membership Manager
Post 2015 Consultation in Bonn - Part 2
Day 2 of the post 2015 conference in Bonn.
Centrepiece of the day was the key note address from Homi Kharas - the lead author of the High level Panel's report. Homi had to be rather careful about what he said as the report will not be written till after the Bali meeting scheduled for this week-end and obviously he could not be seen to be predicting what the HLP report would contain. What he did say was that HLP believes that we need to speed up developments and that business as usual is not going to be acceptable.
The key themes of environmental sustainability and the creation of prosperity are not seen as dichotomous and that ending poverty is a central aim. Big emphasis on gender; he mentioned ageing but not disability. He stressed that the HLP was just one of many inputs to the process and that the main arena of debate would now shift to country level and that the views of the Member States of the UN would ultimately decide. He saw influencing the thinking of states as a key role for CSOs going forward.
Later, there were a number of thematic group discussions - only 7 of the 290 delegates showed up to the ageing & disability workshop and these were all the "usual suspects". Disability is just not on the radar of any of the big CSO players....we have lots to do to make sure we get included post 2015....
Peter Ackland
Chief Executive officer
Post 2015 Consultation in Bonn
I am one of 290 representatives of civil society organisations gathered at the very modern but slightly austere Bonn World Conference Centre to discuss the post -2015 and Sustainable Development Agenda - part of the very wide consultation process around what happens after the MDGs.
When all this started apparently the UN Secretary General asked people to think 'Boldly but Practically'. On day 1 there was no shortage of bold, including challenging the hegemony of neo-liberalism i.e. market-led economies - I am reminded fondly of my student days.
Lots of talk about rights - I attended a workshop on health and rights - universal health coverage discussed a lot and I expressed my view that Healthy Life Expectancy (HALE) as an overall indicator has a lot of potential to highlight inequalities if when collected it is disaggregated by gender, wealth quintiles etc. Got a fair few nods...
Slightly odd being a "vision focussed" organisation in a sea of more general development NGOs - I find myself talking about disabilities in general and stressing the importance of vision within it. No one from hearing organisations (I think) - maybe there should be a Hearing & Vision alliance - there would be 500m+ of us...
Tomorrow we will be addressed by Homi Kharas, Executive Secretary to the High Level Panel - looking forward to that.
Peter Ackland
Chief Executive officer
Visual Impairment and "Post 2015"
In the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) there is not one mention of disability. As the major global framework aimed at poverty reduction, the MDGs created momentum amongst donors and government, but often didn’t reach those most in need, including the disabled.
This is in spite of the fact that about 15% of the world’s population or one billion people have disabilities and that disabled people are disproportionally represented amongst the poor. People who are disabled are more likely to be unemployed, not go to school, and be socially isolated than people without disabilities. Further, for a huge 80% of people living with visual impairment, their condition is avoidable - it could be prevented or if treated their sight could be restored - which means that 4 out of 5 blind people are needlessly impaired.
Whereas MDGs seemed to come out of nowhere, more or less, "Post 2015" - the process to decide what comes next - is a different story. This time there is a major effort to hear the voices of the poor and the marginalised. This time it should be possible to do things better.
IAPB is pitching in with the vast mix: how can we get the best possible development framework so that visually impaired persons' lives can be improved and those at risk of visual impairment can best be helped. With seemingly endless discussions, consultations and drafts – countless NGOs and activists around the world are trying to get heard; trying to identify entry points; using the formal processes; and where possible, lobbying crucial targets.
To push our key messages, and combine strengths, IAPB has set up a Work Group with our members, chaired by Johannes Trimmel. In a nutshell, IAPB’s efforts are focused on strengthening health systems, addressing the causes of ill-health, ensuring equal access to health care for all people, and explicitly addressing disability rights across the framework.
We know that Post 2015, whatever its final form, cannot attend to everything. But to really improve the lives of the poor and the marginalised, it is absolutely crucial that the rights of the disabled and those at risk of visual impairment are accounted for.
Zoe Gray,
Advocacy Manager
Budapest hosts IAPB Europe Regional Meet
A great meeting in the cold but beautiful Budapest, hosted by IAPB’s new Chairman for IAPB Europe – Professor Janos Nemeth. Janos is in the middle of the picture taken in the library at the Dept. of Ophthalmology, Semmelweis University - an illustrious and historic centre of ophthalmology in Hungary.
A small group met to identify strategic priorities for the Europe region – this is a very diverse region with 53 countries stretching from the far east of Russia through to Iceland - not surprisingly eye health issues also vary enormously. The group came up with three main areas for future focus:
- Data collection – we will make available on the new IAPB website page for Europe all the data we have for the region and also stimulate the capacity to conduct RAAB surveys in the region
- A focus on raising awareness and capacity to deliver Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) programmes in Eastern Europe – building upon the support we are getting from Shreveport Sees Russia.
- Facilitation and support for the coalition that has been created to promote better eye health in the 27 countries of the European Union.
I am confident that with the leadership of Janos, who will be supported administratively by Erika Tátrai, and with the co-chairs for the region we have a strong team that will make real progress in the region.
ROP has got to be one of the worst nightmares of all parents – imagine having a premature baby, the joy at your child surviving, but then to find out that the very treatment that saved your baby’s life made her blind. This is a growing concern in Eastern Europe and the urban centres of many emerging economies – it’s something we can solve – no child needs to be blinded from ROP.
Peter Ackland
Chief Executive officer
Feedback on our IAPB Latin American Operational Planning meeting – Miami
(14-15 February 2013)
IAPB's regional team from Latin America met with our newly elected Chair for Latin America, Dr. Juan Batlle, in the amazing melting pot of Miami. With its Latin influence and multicultural complexion, Miami was the perfect backdrop for focusing our minds and to articulate our aspiration for IAPB's work in Latin America over the next three years.
We now have a growing presence in the region: we welcome our new chair Dr Juan Battle, Medical Director, Centro Laser, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Dr Van Lansingh, our long-standing regional coordinator was joined in January 2012 by Cristina Sanchez, our representative in Bolivia and Christina Sanko, now located in Mexico, IAPB's Development Manager for Latin America.
We focused on how we most effectively can contribute to the newly developed VISION 2020 Latin American Strategic Plan for 2013-2016 that was developed in Lima (2012) in consultation with members and stakeholders including PAHO, PAAO and national VISION 2020 members. We focused around five key pillars from the Plan: advocacy, communications, capacity building, research and resource management.
We had very positive discussions of how IAPB can most effectively work to contribute to the Strategic Plan and make a difference for eye health in the region. We also discussed ways that IAPB can improve our communications on our key eye health messages. In line with this we have recently published three editions of the Community Eye Health Journal in Spanish that cover subjects of Diabetic Retinopathy, Instruments and supplies and Low Vision. If you work in the field and would like to receive future editions please contact us
During our meeting we also recognised that it is very important to raise awareness of public eye health within the ophthalmological community. One way to achieve this can be a dedicated Latin American IAPB award to recognise prevention of blindness efforts. To help promote eye health messages amongst the general public we are planning new initiatives around World Sight Day and will have more on this later
John Trevelyan
Fundraising and Partnerships Manager
Pacific Elimination of Trachoma Programme in Fiji
(21 February 2013)
Komal Ram, Regional Project Manager for the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) Western Pacific Region, blogs about her recent trip to Fiji where she visited and accompanied a surveillance team as part of the Pacific Elimination of Trachoma Programme. The original blog post appeared on the IAPB WPR blog and is re-produced with permission.
In early August the Pacific Elimination of Trachoma Program (PacET) team surveyed 20 clusters for trachoma in the Northern Division of Fiji, on the island of Vanua Levu. Trachoma is the result of infection of the eye with Chlamydia trachomatis. Infection spreads from person to person, especially where there are shortages of water, many flies, and crowded living conditions. Infection often begins during infancy or childhood and can become chronic. If left untreated, the infection eventually causes the eyelid to turn inwards, which in turn causes the eyelashes to rub on the eyeball, resulting in intense pain and scarring the eye. This ultimately leads to irreversible blindness, most commonly between 30 and 40 years of age.
The PacET team was headed by the National Trachoma Coordinator and made up of a local Ophthalmologist, eye health nurses, and public and village community nurses. We were based in the main township of Labasa, but surveyed a number of areas on the island. The terrain outside of the main township of Labasa in the North is a mix of village communities and houses in the sugar cane belts. The team worked tirelessly to screen children between the ages of one to nine starting their survey walk at 9am and finishing at 6pm. In some areas of the North, the survey team screened children who had active trachoma, especially in the older age group.
Formal analysis of the data commenced in October for all divisions surveyed in Fiji and will be presented to key stakeholders to inform implementation of the second stage of PacET.
One of the first survey areas about 40kms out from the main township Labasa. This village was identified by the local public health nurse as lacking in basic facilities and a proper rubbish disposal area.
Dr Vara screens an 8 year old for active trachoma.
9 year old child screened for trachoma. Trachoma follicles (TF) were detected.
Children from the community school arriving for their screening and educational talk on Trachoma. The talk is based on the SAFE strategy and features components F and E. The SAFE Strategy is an innovative public health approach designed to treat and prevent trachoma. Endorsed by the World Health Organization, the components of SAFE are: S for Surgery for in-turned eyelids; A for Antibiotics to treat and prevent active infection; F for Facial cleanliness to prevent disease transmission; and E for Environmental change to increase access to water and sanitation.
The team conducting surveys in one of the clusters in the sugar cane belt. With houses quite spread out, this meant a lot of walking around with equipment.
Pacific Elimination of Trachoma Program (PacET) data forms.
At each village we entered there was the ceremonial sevusevu, which is an official Fijian ceremony for meeting and greeting visitors by the Chief or the head person of the village. The sevusevu is a ritual which allowed the survey team to ask permission and show appreciation for screening kids in the village. Kava is usually offered to drink in a sevusevu. Komal Ram drinking ceremonial kava.
All photos courtesy of the Fiji Ministry of Health and the PacET Project.
Komal Ram,
Regional Project Manager,
IAPB WPR
WHO EB Passes Resolution on Blindness!
(24 January 2013)
Geneva in January is always a spectacular and beautiful place to be with the mountains covered in snow and the lake gleaming in the bright winter sunshine. But two days ago, the Executive Board meeting room deep in the heart of WHO was an even sunnier place to be for those of us interested in the prevention of avoidable blindness. The 34 Member States that make up the EB were discussing the proposed new Action Plan 2014 - 2019 "Towards Universal Eye Health" and an accompanying resolution to go to the World Health Assembly for adoption in May.
The plan received fulsome report - the resolution was proposed by Mexico, Costa Rica and Saudi Arabia and in the discussion Panama, USA, PNG, Australia and Yemen all expressed their co-sponsorship. All countries that spoke in support of the plan and resolution , did so extremely positively and all stressed just how important the issue of avoidable blindness and visual impairment is - In total 18 countries spoke including Mexico, Lithuania, Panama, Seychelles (on behalf of all 46 African countries), Cuba, USA, PNG, Myanmar, Morocco, China, Australia, Iran, Yemen, Nigeria, Venezuela, Italy, Thailand and Saudi Arabia
The contents of the Action Plan and the indicators and global target were commended with just a couple of comments about areas that might be stressed further (onchocerciasis, trachoma, glaucoma, AMD and DR plus Childhood Blindness and affordable medicines). The resolution was passed with just a few "friendly" amendments, though the commitment to increasing resources was, not un-expectedly given the current financial climate in WHO, slightly watered down.
At the end Dr Chan the Director General was effusive in her support - noting how 50% of the people in the room had a visual impairment but were lucky enough to have these corrected - but that many people living in poorer countries were not so lucky. She stressed the value of low cost cataract surgery in India, China and Cuba; how ageing and diabetes were factors likely to contribute to an increase in eye health problems and spoke about the importance of school health programmes including eye health reminiscing on her own experience in Hong Kong of providing glasses to school children that needed them.
Overall we left with the winds in our sails and confident about receiving very positive support in May at the WHA. I have to say so much of this is down to the inside knowledge of Lesley and Sanjeev - they seem to know everyone who represents the country delegations plus the excellent work done by our regional staff and Members in making contact with key countries and winning their support. The IAPB work group has really been effective - a blue print for other advocacy objectives I feel.
Peter Ackland
Chief Executive officer
IAPB South East Asia Regional Meet in Hyderabad
(24 January 2013)
The very successful 9GA saw greater focus on the many successes of the South East Asia region. The region’s new regional chair, Dr Tara Prasad Das (TPD), is an indefatigable champion of blindness prevention and has years of experience in the field.
I have always known Dr Das to be a hands-on manager. His contributions at many eye hospitals – including the two big South Indian ones, Aravind and LVPEI – are testimony to his passion and attention to detail. TPD has an infectious enthusiasm and deep understanding of the eye care issues of the region – a great choice for the Regional Chair!
TPD had called for a fresh assessment meeting on the eve of the giant APAO-AIOS 2013 conference in Hyderabad, India. The group was to see how best IAPB could support and promote avoidable blindness efforts in the 11 countries of the S E Asia region, without duplicating the many ongoing efforts in the region with the highest prevalence of vision loss in the world. The attendees included heads of major eye care NGOs active in the region, and representatives from India, Nepal, Thailand, Indonesia and reports sent in from Bangladesh. Peter Ackland, CEO and John Trevelyan, Fundraising and Partnership Development Manager, IAPB and I joined the group with inputs about work in other regions.
The stress at the meeting was to ensure that there was follow-up from this meeting; that things don’t quieten after people go away from here. Everybody felt that a regional coordinator would be great help in ensuring the momentum is sustained, and IAPB hopes to seek funding to support this position. I was impressed to note the years of experience and friendship among the group; though they worked in different countries and settings, they were quick to note novel ideas that worked – and were politely dismissive of systemic issues that throttled change in the region.
In the first year, the group decided to focus initial efforts on 3 countries – Indonesia, Myanmar and Bangladesh and to also develop a regional theme, by focusing on key issues across the region such as 
primary eye care or the increasing incidence of diabetic retinopathy. IAPB will be hosting a region-focused webpage on the IAPB website to help promote exchange of data and information, and I will be working TPD in making it live over the next few weeks.
John Trevelyan came away from the meeting with a sense of purpose and opportunities to support this fledgling group. He noted, “It was valuable to identify the key priorities and programmes needed in the region. I look forward to working with the regional team in developing fund-raising opportunities so that there is measurable progress”.
Peter Ackland too is enthusiastic about the group’s focus on outcomes and plans for the future. Signing off after a long but fruitful day, he said, “It was great to see a knowledgeable and highly-experienced group coming together. I came away with the feeling that we have a tangible way forward. I hope this will go on to positively impact the people of this region”.
B V Tejah,
Communications Manager
IAPB Blog
Dr Chan mentions Blindness and VI
IAPB Standard List - Phil Hoare's update
Western Pacific Member States draft a regional plan for eye health
Barcelona Breakthrough: Vision & Ageing
Prof Clare Gilbert: Plans for the Future
IAPB BoT meeting, Bangkok: What to Expect?
Post 2015 Consultation in Bonn - Part 2
Post 2015 Consultation in Bonn
Visual Impairment and Post 2015
Budapest hosts IAPB Europe Regional Meet
Feedback on our IAPB Latin American Operational Planning meeting – Miami
Pacific Elimination of Trachoma Programme in Fiji
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