Preservation and Restoration of Vision:
ICO Asks Societies To Support WHO Resolution EB117.R4
(This page was prepared early in 2006 to support efforts of ophthalmologic societies to generate support for WHO Resoution EB 117.R4. The World Health Assembly subsequently adopted Resolution 59-25, calling for intensified action to halt and reverse the rise in avoidable blindness in the world.)
More on Preservation of Vision:
Initiatives and Organizations:
- International Ophthalmology's Vision for the Future
- VISION 2020: The Right to Sight
- Research Agenda for Global Blindness Prevention
- WHO and Non-Governmental Development Organizations (NGOs)
- IFOS Society Preservation of Vision Initiatives
- Other Initiatives
Information and Resources:
On this page:
- ICO calls for support of WHO resolution
- Sample letter to ministers and attachments
- More background information
- What the WHO resolution requests
- IAPB asks ministers for support
- Support from ophthalmology is critical
ICO calls for support of WHO resolution
The International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) has asked every national ophthalmologic society, as well as individual ophthalmologists, to contact your minister of health and other members of your national delegation to the World Health Assembly (WHA) in May in Geneva and ask them to support adoption of WHO Resolution EB117.R4.
In the March 2006 issue of IFOS Notes, a monthly e-mail newsletter that the ICO sends to members of the International Federation of Ophthalmological Societies (IFOS), ICO President Bruce Spivey, MD, asked societies and individual ophthalmologists to:
1. Modify a sample letter to ministers of health as needed
2. Send it to your minister of health and other members of your delegation to the WHA as soon as possible, and then
3. Follow-up with them by e-mail, telephone and, if possible, personal meetings to encourage their support.
Sample letter to ministers and attachments
You can download the sample letter to send to ministers of health from www.icoph.org/pdf/lettertomoh.doc (60 KB).
The ICO suggests sending two attachments with the letter:
- Resolution EB117.R4: www.icoph.org/pdf/WHOresolutionEB117R4.pdf (16 KB).
- A short background document on why government support for prevention of blindness is critical: www.icoph.org/pdf/VISION2020.pdf (768 KB).
More background information
The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IABC), which is spearheading support for the WHO resolution, and its members have developed the following additional background information that may be helpful to those seeking greater support for prevention of blindness:
- "Why Blindness Prevention Needs Our Attention," a PowerPoint slide presentation designed for ministers of health (www.icoph.org/pdf/IABCformoh.ppt - 744 KB)
- "Magnitude and causes of visual impairment - No cause for complacency," a WHO Factsheet (www.icoph.org/pdf/whofactsheet.pdf - 572 KB)
- Questions and Answers on VISION 2020 (www.icoph.org/pdf/VISION2020Q&A.pdf - 708 KB)
- Poverty and Blindness: an executive summary of a survey of the literature. (www.icoph.org/pdf/povertyandblindness.pdf - 432 KB).
What the WHO resolution requests
Adopted by the WHO Executive Board on January 26, Resolution EB117.R4 on "Prevention of avoidable blindness and visual impairment" asks WHA Member States (i.e., countries) to:
- reinforce efforts to define national VISION 2020 plans
- provide funding necessary to support those plans
- include prevention of avoidable blindness and visual impairment in national development plans and goals.
The resolution asks WHO to:
- give priority to prevention of avoidable blindness and visual impairment
- provide necessary technical support to member states and support for collaboration among countries
- monitor progress on the global initiative and report to the Executive Board every three years.
IAPB asks ministers for support
The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) sent a letter to each national minister of health on March 16 urging that their delegation to the WHA:
- Vote in favor of adoption of the 117th resolution: EB117.R4
- Support adding Prevention of Blindness activities to the Medium Term Strategic Plan 2008 – 2013 of WHO as well as its Biennial Programme Budget 2008 – 2009
- Support inclusion of Prevention of Blindness and Visual Impairment activities within the WHO 11th General Programme of Work.
The IAPB letter to ministers of health can be downloaded from www.icoph.org/pdf/iapbtomoh.pdf.
Support from ophthalmology is critical
"Active support from ophthalmologic societies and individual ophthalmologists for adoption of the resolution could be critical to increasing the resources allocated to prevention of blindness around the world," said IAPB President Nag Rao, MD,
It is vital for the ministers of health and other delegates to hear from national ophthalmological societies and other ophthalmologists, Dr. Rao said. “What really works is persistent and persuasive follow-up by people in the region.”
If you have questions relating to the WHO Resolution or World Health Assembly, contact ICO Director for Advocacy Hugh Taylor, MD, at advocacy@icoph.org.
Next: Preservation of Vision Home
Also see: International ophthalmology's Vision for the Future
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