The report, which draws on research co-authored by SOVS Associate Professor Jacqui Ramke, will serve as a reference point for countries’ efforts towards meeting the ambitious global eye health targets endorsed by Member States of the 74th World Health Assembly in 2021. These are:
A 30-percentage point increase in effective cataract surgical coverage (eCSC) and
A 40-percentage point increase in effective refractive error coverage (eREC)
What is eCSC and eREC?
Effective cataract surgical coverage (eCSC) measures the number of people in a population that have been operated for cataract, and had a good outcome, as a proportion of all the people requiring or having received surgery in that population.
Similarly, effective refractive error coverage (eREC) is defined as the proportion of people in need of services to correct refractive error such as spectacles or contact lenses, who have received these interventions and have a resultant good-quality outcome.
You can read more about the importance of these targets and how they came to be adopted by the World Health Assembly — with a view to also making them proxy indicators for Universal Health Coverage — in a blogpost on the International Centre for Eye Health‘s website, written by Jacqui with London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine colleagues Professor Matthew Burton and Ian McCormick.
Here in Aotearoa, we continue to collect information on how people are experiencing eye health services, whether they are able to access the services they need, and what solutions might be needed to ensure that everyone who needs eye care in Aotearoa can receive it.
We are excited to soon begin a project that will include Aotearoa’s first population-based survey that will generate our first estimates of eCSC and eREC. These estimates are crucial to inform equity-focused planning, and will also help raise the profile of eye health on global health and development agenda.
World Sight Day is an International Day of Awareness, held annually on the second Thursday of October. This year, World Sight Day is Thursday, 13 October 2022. World Sight Day is coordinated by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB).
This year, the IAPB, its members and partners is encouraging everyone to take a moment to think about the importance of eye health for everyone, everywhere:
Using data from population-based eye health surveys around the World, investigators (including School Of Optometry and Vision Science Associate Professor Jacqui Ramke) have published baseline estimates for effective Cataract Surgical Coverage (eCSC) and effective Refractive Error Coverage (eREC) .
What is eCSC and eREC?
Effective cataract surgical coverage (eCSC) measures the number of people in a population that have been operated for cataract, and had a good outcome, as a proportion of all the people requiring or having received surgery in that population.
Similarly, effective refractive error coverage (eREC) is defined as the proportion of people in need of services for poor eyesightrefractive error such as spectacles or contact lenses who have received these interventions and have a resultant good-quality outcome.
Cataract surgery and correction of refractive error remain two of the most cost-effective healthcare interventions ever. These two indicators serve as ideal proxy indicators not only to track changes in the uptake and quality of eye care services at the global level, but also contribute to monitoring progress towards UHC in general. In 2021, the World Health Assembly set ambitious global eyecare targets for 2030 of a 30% increase in eCSC and a 40% increase in eREC.
The paper on Effective Cataract Surgical Coverage shows the indicator varies widely between countries, with higher coverage in countries with greater income-level, with the highest at 70.3% and the lowest only 3.8%. Higher coverage was also seen among men, highlighting the need to embed equity in efforts to improve access to surgery.
The paper on Effective Refractive Error Coverage estimated that less than half (43%) of people who need glasses for distance vision have had this need met. The paper’s authors note that despite coverage increasing by 19% in the last 20 years, the WHO target will require substantial improvements in quantity and quality of refractive services, particularly for women and among older people.
Speaking on behalf of the WHO at the launch of the “Report of the 2030 targets on effective coverage of eye care”, at the United Nations in New York on 12 October, the eve of World Sight Day, Dr Stuart Keel said: “These two papers set the baseline for what we want to achieve by 2030 and the international collaborative effort demonstrates how well-positioned the eye care sector is to contribute to the advancement of Universal Health Coverage within countries”.
The work for the eCSC study was funded by the Indigo Trust, Peek Vision, and the Wellcome Trust, while the eREC study was funded by WHO, Sightsavers, The Fred Hollows Foundation, Fondation Thea, Brien Holden Vision Institute and Lions Clubs International Foundation.
