MOST VISUAL IMPAIRMENT IS AVOIDABLE
Pediatric Preventable Blindness Initiative
A PROTOCOL FOR EARLY VISION SCREENING
UPCOMING EVENT
Hawaii - CGRN Symposium on the importance of early vision screening
THE PROBLEM
YOUNG CHILDREN CANNOT REPORT THE SYMPTOMS OF CONGENITAL EYE ABNORMALITIES. EARLY ONSET OCULAR PROBLEMS AND REFRACTIVE ERROR CAN ONLY BE FOUND THROUGH VISION SCREENING.
LATE DIAGNOSIS LEADS TO ADVERSE OUTCOMES IN EARLY DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION, AND WORSE, THE CONDITION CAN BECOME TOO ADVANCED FOR TREATMENT.
784:100,000
children in the United States under 5yrs are blind or visually impaired
THE PREVALENCE OF BLINDNESS AND VISUAL IMPAIRMENT IN THE WEST INDIES POPULATION IS 4X HIGHER THAN IN THE UNITED STATES.
1,478:100,000
children in The West Indies under 5yrs are blind or visually impaired
THE GOAL
REDUCE PEDIATRIC AVOIDABLE BLINDNESS WORLDWIDE
WITH
MASS EYE SCREENING BEFORE 5 YEARS OF AGE
THE WEST INDIES: A MODEL FOR THE WORLD
Newborn vaccine protocols are provided at no-cost and are widely accepted around the globe. Vaccine protocol offers several opportunities for vision screening before children reach school age. Incorporating vision screening onto these encounters adds mere minutes to the well child’s vaccine visit.
School age detection of visual impairments by overburdened teachers is unreliable and too late. Our model is an innovative early screening initiative has been vetted by experts in the fields of public health, vision screening, cultural anthropology, and healthcare economics from around the globe.
​
Established medical systems, distinct geographic areas, robust cultural identities, and varied genetic cohorts create health challenges for health screening in The West Indies and nations around the globe. A vision screening program should be repeatable and scalable.
​
Advances in ophthalmic screening technology have produced simple to use auto refractors and a modernized red reflex device. Screening for ocular disease and refraction errors can now be carried out by non-ophthalmic healthcare providers with images that can be uploaded to a cloud-based system for further medical review and referral.
​
​
THE RESPONSE
Treating uncommon disease requires collective expertise and collaboration to drive meaningful advances. The best answer we have for preventing irreversible blindness is early screening, diagnosis, timely treatment, and patient centered care. The strength of the PPB Model is its ability to identify the causes of visual impairment that are specific to each region and then refer those children for appropriate care.