UoA News: Making eye health more equitable
A Community Spectacle Scheme recently launched by the University of Auckland is helping make eye care more accessible to all New Zealanders.
Read the full story here.
International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness: Lack of evidence fails indigenous people worldwide
International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, September 2021
By Jacqueline Ramke and Hugh Bassett, International Centre for Eye Health
Globally, there are an estimated 370 million Indigenous people, living in 90 countries. Marginalisation, displacement and institutional racism has left Indigenous people across the world with poorer health and social outcomes compared with non-Indigenous people, including dying younger, having higher rates of infant mortality and poverty, and lower educational attainment…
Inequity in eye health is also evident with high income countries failing to ensure Indigenous populations have equitable access to eye care service. A recent scoping review from a team at the University of Auckland and the International Centre for Eye Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine also shows limited evidence that high-income countries are actively tackling this lack of access.
Read the full blog post on the IAPB website.
NZ Optics: Door-knock study uncovers unmet need
Veeran Morar and Jaymie Rodgers during the pilot eye health survey in Glen Innes, Auckland, 2021.
Auckland University researchers have conducted a pilot eye health survey and community eye exams in east-central Auckland, uncovering significant unmet need and serious eye disorders, including retinal tears and severe cataracts.
Read the full story in the September 2021 issue of NZ Optics.
The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness: Challenging representation in eye health leadership
The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, March 2021
By Jacqueline Ramke (Associate Professor of Global Eye Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine), Anthea Burnett (Knowledge Consultant, IAPB), Jude Stern (Head of Knowledge Management, IAPB)
A challenged world is an alert world and from challenge comes change.
When leaders reflect the populations that they serve, there can be substantial benefits. These benefits extend across health, democracy, economic growth and human development, governance, justice, and peace and security.(1) Currently, women are a minority in health leadership positions globally, which inhibits health gains among women, children and minorities worldwide.(2)
“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made” — Ruth Bader Ginsberg, 2009
The theme of International Women’s Day this year provides the opportunity to reflect on how far we have to go in eye health to ensure enough women are in the room when decisions are being made. This is essential to address the pervasive gender inequity in eye health—in 2020, there were an estimated 112 women living with vision loss for every 100 men, even after adjusting for the longer life expectancy of women.
Read the full blog post on the IAPB website.