Eye care news – Five insights from the APPG on Eye Health and Vision Impairment

A meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Eye Health and Vision Impairment met in Westminster on 23 November. They discussed data in the eye health sector. The pilot of a new study into the UK’s eye and hearing health. As well as how statistics are essential in tackling health inequality. OT went along to hear about these crucial topics first-hand.

1 There is no national data on vision impairment and blindness, and a clearer picture is needed

Jim Shannon, co-chair of the APPG on Eye Health and Vision Impairment alongside Marsha de Cordova, explained that there is no cohesive national data on blindness and vision impairment in the UK.“There is no nationwide population data on the prevalence. Nor the causes of vision impairment, or the utilisation of services,” he said.

Professor Rupert Bourne, professor of ophthalmology at Cambridge University Hospitals and Anglia Ruskin University, is also the lead for the vision loss expert group, which provides data every five years to the World Health Organization.