Fred Hollows lecture. Eye care for the community

Eye disease is a huge and largely unrecognized problem in our community, especially in the elderly. The Visual Impairment Project, an intensive epidemiological study conducted by the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) from 1991 to 1999, determined the prevalence, causes and risk factors for eye disease in Australia, and helped identify a series of specific, often simple, steps and strategies to significantly reduce its impact. A distillation of CERA"s findings has highlighted the growing problem of eye disease in our community. In addition, CERA has joined with other interested bodies to form Vision 2020: the Right to Sight Australia. This partnership was established in response to the Global Initiative to Eliminate Avoidable Blindness by the year 2020 - Vision 2020: the Right to Sight. This Global Initiative was established by the World Health Organization and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness. Vision 2020 Australia aims to be the peak body for all those involved in vision care in its broadest sense in Australia, and to put vision on the national agenda.