1 SEPTEMBER 2015 • OPTOMETRICMANAGEMENT.COM potential to provide eye care to more than 5 million people over the next 10 years. We will continue to support the development of these schools over the coming years, in partnership with the Brien Holden Vision Institute and others, with a particular focus on Haiti, Mexico, Vietnam and Nicaragua. Child Eye Health is another priority area and we are pleased to have been invited to be a Global Partner in the recently announced “Our Children’s Vision” campaign that aims to screen 50 million school children by 2020 and pro- vide eye health care and spectacles for those who cannot af- ford them. e campaign is initiated by the Brien Holden Vi- sion Institute and Essilor Vision for Life with support from the Revo / Bono “Buy Vision, Give Sight” campaign and a coalition of industry and non-industry partners. Another ongoing priority area is the funding support provided for advocacy and community education. Although seemingly less tangible, these activities are vital for raising awareness of the economic and social impact that uncor- rected refractive error has on local communities, and for mobilizing appropriate financial and policy responses from governments, professional associations, NGOs, volunteer groups, multi lateral agencies such as the World Health Or- ganization, and others. Over recent years, there has been a significant increase in the numbers of organizations who now recognize uncorrect- ed refractive error as a major public eye health issue, and who are committed to funding and implementing sustainable pro- grams that build local capacity and provide access to afford- able, ongoing eye and vision care. Optometry Giving Sight’s advocacy work has been a significant factor in this increase. e recognition of the Optometrist’s key role as primary eye care provider is central to the achievement of our objec- tives. A recent example is in Mexico, where in early 2015, a OPTOMETRY GIVING SIGHT SPONSORED BY OPTOMETRY GIVING SIGHT F OR THE PAST 10 YEARS, Optometry Giving Sight and its project partners have made a significant impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of fami- lies and communities. More than US$11 million in fund- ing from donors and sponsors has been disbursed to 72 projects in 37 countries throughout Africa, Asia, Australasia, the Americas and Eastern Europe. is has helped to provide basic eye care services to 4 million people; train more than 10,000 eye care personnel and support the establishment of 133 vision cen- ters and optical laboratories. e Board of Optometry Giving Sight, which is comprised of representatives from founding members the Brien Holden Vision Institute, World Council of Optometry and Interna- tional Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, has always maintained that the building of local capacity (“teaching people how to fish”) is the key to eliminating the backlog of preventable blindness and vision impairment, currently es- timated to be more than 600 million people. For this reason, more than 30% of our total disbursements currently support the development of optometry programs and Schools of Optometry in countries where there are few, if any, locally trained optometrists. is represents a signifi- cant long-term investment in these countries, to not only produce graduates, but also to ensure they are supported and integrated into a functioning public health system. ere are currently 350 students in degree and diploma programs in 9 optometry programs / Schools of Optometry that have received funding from Optometry Giving Sight; 109 students have now graduated with a degree or diploma; and 21 graduates are being developed as future faculty to en- sure the long term sustainability of the programs. At a conservative estimate these graduates alone have the OPTOMETRIC MANAGEMENT CORPORATE PROFILE Dr. Juan Carlos Aragon Chairman Optometry Giving Sight Clive Miller CEO Optometry Giving Sight
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1 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 5 • O P T O M E T R I C M A N A G E M E N T . C O M
potential to provide eye care to more than 5 million people over the next 10 years.
We will continue to support the development of these schools over the coming years, in partnership with the Brien Holden Vision Institute and others, with a particular focus on Haiti, Mexico, Vietnam and Nicaragua.
Child Eye Health is another priority area and we are pleased to have been invited to be a Global Partner in the recently announced “Our Children’s Vision” campaign that aims to screen 50 million school children by 2020 and pro-vide eye health care and spectacles for those who cannot af-ford them. The campaign is initiated by the Brien Holden Vi-sion Institute and Essilor Vision for Life with support from the Revo / Bono “Buy Vision, Give Sight” campaign and a coalition of industry and non-industry partners.
Another ongoing priority area is the funding support provided for advocacy and community education. Although seemingly less tangible, these activities are vital for raising awareness of the economic and social impact that uncor-rected refractive error has on local communities, and for mobilizing appropriate financial and policy responses from governments, professional associations, NGOs, volunteer groups, multi lateral agencies such as the World Health Or-ganization, and others.
Over recent years, there has been a significant increase in the numbers of organizations who now recognize uncorrect-ed refractive error as a major public eye health issue, and who are committed to funding and implementing sustainable pro-grams that build local capacity and provide access to afford-able, ongoing eye and vision care. Optometry Giving Sight’s advocacy work has been a significant factor in this increase.
The recognition of the Optometrist’s key role as primary eye care provider is central to the achievement of our objec-tives. A recent example is in Mexico, where in early 2015, a
OPTOMETRY GIVING SIGHT
S P O N S O R E D B Y O P T O M E T R Y G I V I N G S I G H T
FOR THE PAST 10 YEARS, Optometry Giving Sight and its project partners have made a significant impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of fami-lies and communities.
More than US$11 million in fund-ing from donors and sponsors has been disbursed to 72 projects in 37 countries
throughout Africa, Asia, Australasia, the Americas and Eastern Europe. This has helped to provide basic eye care services to 4 million people; train more than 10,000 eye care personnel and support the establishment of 133 vision cen-ters and optical laboratories.
The Board of Optometry Giving Sight, which is comprised of representatives from founding members the Brien Holden Vision Institute, World Council of Optometry and Interna-tional Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, has always maintained that the building of local capacity (“teaching people how to fish”) is the key to eliminating the backlog of preventable blindness and vision impairment, currently es-timated to be more than 600 million people.
For this reason, more than 30% of our total disbursements currently support the development of optometry programs and Schools of Optometry in countries where there are few, if any, locally trained optometrists. This represents a signifi-cant long-term investment in these countries, to not only produce graduates, but also to ensure they are supported and integrated into a functioning public health system.
There are currently 350 students in degree and diploma programs in 9 optometry programs / Schools of Optometry that have received funding from Optometry Giving Sight; 109 students have now graduated with a degree or diploma; and 21 graduates are being developed as future faculty to en-sure the long term sustainability of the programs.
At a conservative estimate these graduates alone have the
OPTOMETRIC MANAGEMENT CORPORATE PROFILE
Dr. Juan Carlos AragonChairmanOptometry Giving Sight
Clive Miller CEOOptometry Giving Sight
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 5 • O P T O M E T R I C M A N A G E M E N T . C O M 2
Presidential Decree was signed modifying Article 79 of the Health Act to include Optometry among the health pro-fessions requiring a University degree to be practiced. Op-tometry Giving Sight and the World Council of Optometry worked with AMFECCO, the Mexican association of schools and associations of optometry, and key industry leaders to help facilitate this important outcome.
We are currently supporting efforts to have Optometry recognized in India, through the important work being un-dertaken by the Indian Optometry Federation and the Op-tometry Council of India.
The recent passing of our founding Chairman, Professor Brien Holden, has been a great shock for all of us at Optom-etry Giving Sight. Brien was a great visionary, and inspir-ing leader, who was instrumental in establishing Optom-etry Giving Sight as a way of ensuring that the Optometric community would be at the forefront of global efforts to eliminate refractive error blindness and impaired vision. His passing has reminded us all what an incredible contribu-tion he made to this world, and how important it is for us to continue our efforts to ensure that all people have access to the vision care they need. We are incredibly proud to have known and worked with Brien. He has left a huge legacy, which will continue to inspire us for years to come.
We also acknowledge the great support that we receive from our many donors, Global sponsors including CooperVision, national sponsors, network and media partners. Their trust, financial support and partnership have been critical to our de-velopment to date, and to what we hope to achieve over the next 10 years.
S P O N S O R E D B Y O P T O M E T R Y G I V I N G S I G H T
OPTOMETRIC MANAGEMENTCORPORATE PROFILE
Vietnam School of Optometry: History was made in Vietnam last year with the introduction of the very first optometry course, launched on 29 October at the Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine (PNTU), Ho Chi Minh City. The late Professor Brien Holden is pictured here at the opening with 2 of the first intake of 18 students.
We See Project, Soweto South Africa: VSP Global, Nike, the Brien Holden Vision Institute and Optometry Giving Sight are collaborating on a 3 year project to support the Department of Education and Department of Health to provide eye health services to an estimated 30,000 children in Soweto and re-duce the percentage of school children with uncorrected visual impairment by 90%; and improve the quality of the children’s lives and educational performance. The project was launched in Soweto on April 10th 2014.
Mexico MOU Signing: Optometry Giving Sight recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Benito Juarez Autono-mous University of Oaxaca (UABJO), the Government of Oax-aca, Brien Holden Vision Institute and World Council of Op-tometry to establish the first school of Optometry in the state of Oaxaca in Mexico. The signing took place at the World Congress in Medellin, Colombia on Thursday 13 August. Our hope is that the School will welcome the first students in 2016.
Haiti School of Optometry : Optometry Giving Sight is part of a coalition of organizations including the Brien Holden Vision Insti-tute and VOSH International who are seeking to contribute to the reconstruction of Haiti through the establishment of a School of Optometry at the Université d’État d’Haïti (Haiti University).With the support of Vision Source, Essilor Canada and others, Optometry Giving Sight hopes to soon have raised enough mon-ey to be able to welcome the first student in 2016.
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