International Vision Care: Issues and Approaches.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Ophthalmology
• Health Systems Strengthening

Background:

• Globally, 32.4 million are blind and 191 million have moderate or severe visual impairment (MSVI), with 80% of cases being avoidable.
• Current eye care delivery is often isolated from general health sectors, hindering progress.
• Successful interventions for conditions like vitamin A deficiency, onchocerciasis, and trachoma highlight the importance of global partnerships and multisectoral collaboration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To discuss the challenges in strengthening health systems for eye care in low- and middle-income countries.
• To explore strategies for integrating comprehensive eye care into health systems to achieve universal eye health coverage (UEHC).
• To address the need for robust, sustainable, and high-quality eye care programs globally.

Main Methods:

• Review of global blindness and visual impairment statistics.
• Analysis of the World Health Organization's universal eye health global action plan (2014-2019).
• Discussion of challenges in low- and middle-income countries' health systems and existing comprehensive eye care models.

Main Results:

• Low- and middle-income countries face significant challenges in strengthening the six building blocks of their health systems for eye care.
• Health systems need to address both emerging noncommunicable eye diseases and existing infectious causes of blindness, such as cataract and refractive errors.
• Existing comprehensive eye care models in developing regions offer insights into addressing these challenges.

Conclusions:

• Achieving UEHC requires developing robust, sustainable, and high-quality comprehensive eye care programs, prioritizing areas of greatest need.
• Public health approaches are needed for complex conditions like diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and childhood blindness.
• Investing in human resources and leveraging technological innovations are essential to enhance the quality, access, and equity of eye care services worldwide.