Who We Are
The Challenge
At least 670 million people, mostly in the developing world, are blind or vision impaired simply because they don’t have access to a basic eye examination and a pair of glasses. Of those at least 153 million suffer from treatable blindness or vision impairment at distance and a further 517 million due to near sightedness, all through uncorrected refractive error.
This unnecessary disability has a major impact on people’s lives. The link between poverty and avoidable blindness is indisputable. Uncorrected vision impairment causes profound economic disadvantages to individuals, their families and societies. People living with uncorrected vision impairment are more likely to be excluded from basic education, suffer from isolation and have fewer employment opportunities.
Many of the corrective measures available to those living with vision impairment are often inaccessible to those in low socio-economic groups. Access to health care and education are crucial in lifting people and communities out of poverty.
The Response
In an era characterised by great prosperity for many, incredible technological capabilities and easy access to information, the capacity exists to solve this problem.
The cost in lost productivity caused directly by distance uncorrected refractive error is estimated to be $269 billion (Smith T, Frick K, Holden B, Fricke T, Naidoo K. Potential lost productivity resulting from the global burden of uncorrected refractive error. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. Vol 87: WHO; 2009).
This does not include the productivity loss caused by presbyopia. Presbyopia causes vision impairment of near objects for the 517 million people over the age of 40 years who are unable to access appropriate spectacles and is likely to account for considerable extra productivity loss.
Since 1998, when ICEE was founded in Australia, we have been developing and implementing sustainable solutions for improved eye care access. We collaborate with governments, communities and international non-government organisations to develop long term solutions by investing in local eye care education, professional education, appropriate service delivery systems and research to ensure sustainable eye care in underserved communities.
Our plan is simple:
- Develop human resource - Train enough local eye care personnel to conduct eye examinations and prescribe glasses. From local eye health worker education to professional development, ICEE delivers eye care education to healthcare personnel at all levels to increase access in underserved communities.
- Build sustainable systems - Ensure the necessary local infrastructure to support these services exists on an ongoing basis.
- Ensure affordability - glasses must be available at affordable prices.
- Collaborate - Work in partnership with international non-government organisations, local governments, industry partners and community services to ensure community programmes are supported.
- Perform and facilitate research - To better inform our education services, programme development.
All ICEE activities are designed to facilitate the establishment of permanent eye care services throughout the world, by helping equip communities with the necessary skills and resources to build and sustain their own services.
The Strategy
Our strategy to eliminate uncorrected refractive error is consistent with the aims and principles of Vision 2020 and is guided by sustainability, empowerment and care.
- Advocacy - All of our activities involve extensive negotiations with governments and local stakeholders to ensure appropriateness and support for our programmes. This is necessary to ensure our programmes and future eye care services are fully integrated with, and supported by, existing health care systems.
- Education - ICEE competency-based educational programmes ensure transfer of knowledge through education aimed at building in-country capacity in developing countries and underserved communities. Eye care personnel are trained at various levels depending on country needs.
ICEE trains and educates:
- Community Eye Care Personnel, who are responsible for promoting awareness of eye health conditions, performing basic vision screenings and referring patients with serious conditions, and where appropriate, dispensing glasses.
- Mid-level Eye Care Personnel are able to provide one or more of the following eye care services: refraction services; eye disease screening; prescribing and dispensing glasses; cutting and fitting glasses; and coordinating patient referrals as appropriate.
- Professional Eye Care Personnel are fully qualified optometrists and ophthalmologists, who are trained to increase, and improve, their knowledge and skill base in refraction, patient management, patient referral.
- ICEE also provides courses on how to dispense glasses, assess children’s vision, and how to effectively assess low vision.
• Infrastructure – Eye care workers need facilities, equipment and glasses to ensure services are sustainable. ICEE makes certain infrastructure required is created and eye care workers are supported.
• Research – The planning stage of our work is painstaking and meticulous, but it ensures our programmes are successful and fulfil their objectives. Our planning is augmented by ongoing research activities that monitor and evaluate all programmes, ensuring our models are being constantly refined and improved – providing better outcomes for eye care patients and trainees and use of our resources.
