Lancet Global Health Commission on Global Eye Health: Vision Beyond 2020

Recently, the Lancet Global Health Journal released the Lancet Global Health Commission on Global Eye Health Report: vision beyond 2020 which was informed by 73 experts from 25 countries globally. The report found that addressing avoidable vision loss with highly cost-effective treatments, and improving inclusion of people living with permanent vision loss in society, contributes to a healthier, safer, more equitable world.

Here is an extract from Vision 2020 Australia's high-level summary of the key points from the report of most relevance to our region.

• Almost everyone will experience impaired vision or an eye condition during their lifetime and require eye care services; urgent action is necessary to meet the rapidly growing eye health need: In 2020, 1·1 billion people had distance vision impairment or uncorrected presbyopia. By 2050, this figure is expected to rise to 1·8 billion. The vast majority of these (90%) reside in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), with the greatest proportion occurring in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
• New estimates indicate that addressing preventable sight loss could bring global economic benefits of US$411 billion a year and is essential to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): improving eye health reduces poverty, improves work productivity, general and mental health, and education and equity. Eye health needs to be reframed as an enabling, cross-cutting issue within the sustainable development framework.
• Eye health is an essential component of universal health coverage; it must be included in planning, resourcing, and delivery of health care: Coordinated intersectoral action is needed to systematically improve population eye health, also within healthy ageing initiatives, schools, and the workplace. Integration of eye health services with multiple relevant components of health service delivery and at all levels of the health system is of central importance.
• High quality eye health services are not universally delivered; concerted action is needed to improve quality and outcomes, providing effective, efficient, safe, timely, equitable, and people-centred care.
• Highly cost-effective vision-restoring interventions offer enormous potential to improve the economic outlook of individuals and nations; a major scale up of financial investment in eye health is required: For 2020, we estimate that vision impairment resulted in $410·7 billion lost economic productivity (equivalent to 0.3% of the world’s GDP in 2018), costing the most in east Asia (US$90 billion) and south Asia (US$70 billion); the full cost is most likely higher. Treatments for cataract and refractive error would meet more than 90% of unmet needs and are highly cost-effective. 
• Financial barriers to accessing eye care leave many people behind; eye health needs to be included in national health financing to pool the risk.
• Research has been crucial to advances in understanding and treating eye disease; solution-focused, contextually relevant research is urgently needed to deliver innovative prevention and treatment strategies and inform implementation of eye health within universal health coverage.

Access the original and full article here.

Burton MJ, Ramke J, Marques AP, Bourne RRA, et al. 2021, The Lancet Global Health Commission on Global Eye Health: vision beyond 2020, The Lancet Global Health, Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30488-5.