Eye health and sight loss: the UK Vision Strategy

The UK Vision Strategy is a Vision 2020 UK initiative, led by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), to develop a unified plan for action on all issues relating to eye health and sight loss across the four countries of the UK. The Strategy was developed in response to a World Health Assembly resolution of 2003, which urged the development of national plans to tackle sight loss. Launched in April 2008, the UK Vision Strategy is a bold, ambitious plan to radically improve the eye health of the nation, eliminate avoidable sight loss, improve services to people, including children, with sight loss, and increase inclusion in society for blind and partially sighted people. Health and social care professionals joined the voluntary sector, Government representatives, service users and individuals with experience of sight loss to develop the Strategy. Local groups of health and social service professionals and service users are being formed across the UK to find ways to implement the Strategy. Any health professional with an interest in this work can contribute to their local group either through their professional representative on the group or directly.