Moving Towards VISION 2020 in Niger State - Dr. Isah Jibril

Dr Jibril was in London last week to present the findings of his project, and to mark his successful completion of the MSc in Community Eye Health at the International Centre for Eye Health at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He kindly

contributed the following to our blog:

As Coordinator of the Eye Care Programme in Niger State, Nigeria, I have a big remit to carry forward the VISION 2020 objectives of my State.

Niger is the largest of Nigeria's 36 states, with a population of 4.5 million people spread across 12 million acres - 40% of which is water, and getting around the State can be a challenge! Around 80% of people in Niger State make their living through agriculture or fishing. It is not an affluent population, and blindness or vision impairment can have a big impact on a family.

According to the Nigerian Blindness Survey which took place between 2005-07, around 25,000 people in Niger State are bilaterally blind, 13,500 from cataract alone. Around 1,200 more people go blind from cataract every year - a daunting prospect for our Eye Care service.

In addition, 21 of the 25 local government areas receive annual ivermectin treatments to address the persistence of onchocerciasis or 'river blindness' in Niger State. This was the focus of my project for the MSc - examining coverage and outcomes from the ivermectin distribution programme.

Looking at the situation holistically, if nothing is done in the next five years, Niger State is likely to have around 17,000 people blind from cataract alone. For us to be able to plan according to VISION 2020 guidelines will be essential to addressing this situation. I believe that with a well-drafted plan in place, we will be able to make a real difference.

Before embarking on this training, as a clinician I could devote only 30% of my time to prevention of blindness in the community. Since taking the CEH course, I spend up to 80% of my time on community ophthalmology - a much better way to benefit more people.

One of the most important challenges we faced before was achieving the inauguration of a state Committee for Prevention of Blindness. When I returned from the course in September 2010, I swung into action with advocacy visits to policy-makers at State level, and at last the Committee was formed in November last year. The effect has been felt already, with government support for positive policy changes for eye care.

Another challenge now is to convince eye health NGOs to work with us in Niger State. At present, apart from UNICEF which is involved in ivermectin distribution, no NGO supports eye care programmes in my State. I hope that the development of an effective State action plan for eye care will attract NGO support. I hope eye health NGOs will take note of this message - Niger state could be a great opportunity for them to help make a big difference!

When I return home, an urgent priority will be to contact several eye health NGOs, both in Nigeria and here in the UK, to partner with the Niger State Eye Care Programme, and help us to achieve our VISION 2020 goals.

I am grateful to Almighty God, and also to my Mentor Dr. Abdullah Usman Imam at Niger State MoH, whose support and guidance have helped me lay the foundations of my career. Dr. Imam took the MSc in 2003, and the State Govt generously supported my training so that I may follow in his footsteps.

Seeing a Better Future in El Salvador

Dr Van Lansingh is Regional Coordinator of the Latin America Region, for the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness









In late July I went to El Salvador in order to meet with regional partners and country representatives for the second V2020 Central America Committees Meeting. The countries which attended were Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Belize, Costa Rica and Panama.

We discussed several topics and there was agreement in most of the points.

One of the biggest achievements was the compromise from all the participants to produce a situation diagnosis in order to be presented at the World Health Assembly next May, which will enable them to develop suitable strategies to fight blindness and visual impairment in order to update or develop the National PBL Plan.

Also a Community Eye Health Course was announced to take place in June 2010 at El Salvador University (Universidad de El Salvador).

Of course one of the most encouraging points in the signed Declaration of El Salvador, was the renewed commitment to celebrate de World Sight Day, October 8, as an advocacy tool for the general public and enhance government participation

We are all looking forward to meeting back again in June next year, in order to see how far we have “traveled” and hopefully share successful strategies which can be replicated amongst participants.

Dr. Van Lansingh

Regional Coordinator, VISION 2020 Latin America

www.v2020la.org

An Eastern Perspective: VISION 2020 - INDIA

Bihar, the third most populous state in India hosted the 5th Annual General Body Meeting of VISION 2020: The Right to Sight – India, a few days ago. Dr Abdul Kalam, India’s ex-president and VISION 2020 Global Ambassador gave the keynote address, highlighting the scope of need in Bihar.

The state has 600,000 people who are blind from cataract, yet the current system caters only to 140,000 every year. While 4.2 million people need refractive correction, only 65,000 have spectacles.

In his characteristic style, Dr Kalam made all the representatives take an oath to deliver quality eye care services to all, irrespective of their ability to pay. Dr Kalam’s speech is now VISION 2020 India’s “Patna Declaration”. We hope to use it as a guiding document for our work in this state and as a template for other states where eye care services are grossly inadequate.

The meeting also hosted technical sessions which were widely attended and appreciated. This AGM has set the benchmark for the future, winning accolades from its varied participants and supporters. The reasons for its success include active participation from all stakeholders – government and NGOs, and the effort put in by the VISION 2020 India team and its partners. We had made a commitment to Dr Kalam that we will hold an Action Oriented General Assembly and we fulfilled our promise.

There is a tremendous sense of fulfillment in our team members that we were able to bring together different organizations onto a common platform. We are so motivated that we are now using the mission statement “We will eliminate avoidable blindness in India by 2020." The real challenge is to now make sure that the momentum generated does not peter down but results in measurable impact.

This is the power, potential and magic of VISION 2020 INDIA.

The approach used in Bihar is now being replicated by VISION 2020 - INDIA for its Jodhpur, Rajasthan World Sight Day Celebrations, which will feature a celebrity dinner, along with our ever-popular technical sessions, all with the theme "Gender and Eye Health".

Do visit www.VISION2020IndiA.org for more information on our work and activities!

Dr Rajesh Noah,
Executive Director, VISION 2020 India

Introducing IAPB and VISION 2020

The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness was established in 1975 to lead international efforts for blindness prevention. 1999 saw the launch of the Agency’s flagship initiative
VISION 2020: The Right to Sight,
a 50:50 partnership with the
World Health Organization (WHO).

IAPB has members who are based in, or are active in 7 world regions – Latin America, North America, Africa, Europe, Eastern Mediterranean, South East Asia and Western Pacific. With more than 100 members and a partnership with WHO, IAPB is best placed to ensure that avoidable blindness receives adequate attention in the global health agenda. With numerous health issues, pandemics like Swine Flu, and many other health conditions vying for our attention there is every danger that avoidable blindness could slip away from global consciousness – resulting in the number of blind people growing to 76 million by the year 2020. VISION 2020 provides the best means possible to avert such an outcome.

In this post and more to come, we will use pictures and links to the VISION 2020 website to highlight stories from around the world that are of interest to me and that I hope will be of interest to you, too...

Peter Ackland,
Chief Executive Officer, IAPB

Hello and Welcome!

Hello and welcome to the new VISION 2020 blog! With our posts here, we hope to let you peek into the various aspects of our work, and showcase the impact of VISION 2020.

I am the Chief Executive Officer of IAPB – the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness. IAPB is a global, umbrella organisation bringing together more than 100 eye care NGOs, national bodies, corporations and foundations, all working together to ensure that blindness prevention gets its due on the global health agenda. We are a UK-registered charity and have our offices in London.

I took over as IAPB’s Chief Executive after the IAPB Board Meeting in Bahrain in March 2009; moving on from my appointment as IAPB Director of Programmes. I have had numerous opportunities to interact with IAPB members and other stakeholders who play an important role in delivering VISION 2020’s mission. I have over 25 years experience of international development work and prior to this role, I spent eight years with Sightsavers International – an IAPB Group A member.

Advocacy is a primary strategic objective for IAPB's role within VISION 2020. With this in mind, I hope you will be interested to learn of our activities at this year's World Health Assembly. If so, stay tuned!

Peter Ackland,
Chief Executive Officer, IAPB