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Prevent Blindness to HHS secretary: Do not push eye health to the side
In a letter to the newly confirmed U.S. Department of Health and Human Services secretary, Thomas Price, Prevent Blindness urged the secretary to prioritize adult and children’s vision health in consideration of the $145 billion spent on vision problems in the U.S. annually.
Hugh R. Parry, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness, wrote that among people older than 40 years, vision-related eye diseases are unnecessarily common, and that uncorrected refractive errors affect 13.6% of the population older than 12 years.
“As an orthopedic surgeon, you can certainly understand the correlation between eye health problems and the increased risk of injury from falls among older Americans,” Parry wrote.
He outlined the financial impact of vision problems.
Eye disorders rank fifth among the top eight chronic conditions, with the overall annual cost of vision problems in the U.S. calculated at $145 billion.
“As you begin to focus on your health care plan for the country and consider appointments at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the National Eye Institute – we encourage you to ensure that eye health does not continue to be pushed to the side of the health care dialogue,” he continued.
Parry urged HHS to provide adequate resources for the CDC’s Vision Health Initiative and for advancing a children’s vision health program within HRSA, which would lead to direct support for state level programs resulting in earlier detection and treatment of vision problems, fostering lifelong success in young children.
He cited a public outreach campaign that garnered 48,000 sign-ons in support of a “modest increase” in needed resources.
Parry also listed a number of recommendations resulting from a report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Health & Medicine Division, which include launching a coordinated public awareness campaign to promote policies and practices that encourage eye and vision health across the lifespan, reducing vision impairment and promoting health equity.
Parry also supported the creation of a panel to develop a single set of evidence-based clinical and rehabilitation practice guidelines and measures that can be used by eye care professionals, other care providers and public health professionals to prevent, screen, detect, monitor, diagnose and treat eye and vision problems.
He also encouraged working closely with Congress and its Congressional Vision Caucus to ensure that vision programs currently in place at the CDC will be supported with the necessary resources and to explore opportunities to support the Maternal and Child Health Bureau’s interests.
Source: www.preventblindness.org