Delivering Vision 2020 in the Caribbean

Delivering Vision2020 in the Caribbean

Sightsavers and our partners have begun work on a five-year project that will significantly contribute to achieving the goals of Vision2020: the Right to Sight, the global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness, in the Caribbean.

Sightsavers and our partners have begun work on a five-year project that will significantly contribute to achieving the goals of Vision2020: The Right to Sight, the global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness, in the Caribbean. The project, called Delivering V2020 in the Caribbean, is funded by the European Union and aims to eliminate avoidable blindness through capacity building, human resource and infrastructure development and awareness raising in Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Lucia and the Caribbean region.

The current challenge
The Caribbean faces a number of challenges, including widespread poverty and inequality - particularly for people with visual impairment. There are approximately 13.3million people in the project countries, and around 1% are blind. 60% of this is due to cataract and 25% caused by glaucoma - a disease which over 50% of people do not realise they have. Many more are functionally blind due to a lack of refractive services; an estimated 225,000 people require low vision services.

There is also a widespread lack of awareness of eye health problems among the general public, health care personnel and key decision makers. The migration of skilled workers, and an uneven distribution of health care workers also impacts heavily on the Caribbean - those that do remain are often drawn to urban areas leaving rural and poor populations particularly vulnerable.

Our objectives
The project focuses on strengthening a number of areas including coordination between governments, non-governmental organisations and the private sector, implementation of national eye health plans, distribution of eye health professionals in rural areas and improving facilities and infrastructure.

The governments of the project countries have demonstrated their desire to achieve the objectives of Vision2020, but currently lack the expertise and resources to turn their commitment into successful eye health programmes. Sightsavers and our partners are working closely with Ministries of Health, National Vision2020 Committees and other organisations to improve cooperation at all levels, to promote the efficient use of existing resources and to provide new resources and expertise that will strengthen the overall health systems in each country.

Achieving our goals
Fighting blindness in the Caribbean is a difficult challenge, but by working closely with our partners in the region we are confident of achieving our goals. Together we are building the capacity of our partners and national Vision2020 Committees so they are able to develop, implement and monitor eye health activities, and offer better access to services for people who are blind or visually impaired. We are establishing a network of vision centres that will ensure vital revenues for our partners while providing poor and rural communities with quality eye health services. We are supporting training for a number of eye health professionals to ensure a skilled workforce emerges in the region.

Overall from 2010 in the Caribbean Sightsavers and our partners are supporting training of 10 ophthalmologists, 15 optometrists, 23 refractionists, 45 low vision councillors, 1,240 health care workers, 21 spectacle lab personnel and 10 maintenance personnel. We are also developing or refurbishing 13 vision centres, 7 operating theatres and 5 spectacle labs. To support this work, we will develop a wide range of communications that aim to raise awareness of eye health problems and the treatments available. These will be adapted to suit each national context and are being delivered by TV, radio, newspapers, and by our health care workers, to ensure these important messages reach as many people as possible, and that we are able to successfully deliver Vision2020 in the Caribbean.

This project is implemented by Sightsavers International in collaboration with the Caribbean Council for the Blind - Eye Care Caribbean, Société Haïtienne d'Aide aux Aveugles, St. Lucia Blind Welfare Association, Jamaica Society for the Blind and Eye Care Guyana and is funded by the European Union.

Event launches Caribbean V2020 initiatives
Sightsavers and our partners recently held an opening ceremony to celebrate the launches of Delivering V2020 in the Caribbean and an Optometry Degree programme. 

The first of its kind
The University of Guyana recently launched a Bachelor of Science Degree course in Optometry, marking a real breakthrough in the development of eye health professionals in the region.