Hyderabad, July 9: The World Health Organization has redesignated L V Prasad Eye Institute as a Collaborating Centre for the Prevention of Blindness for a period of 4 years . LVPEI first achieved this designation twenty-five years ago, in 2001. LVPEI is one of 11 eye care institutions designated by the WHO Director General to support WHO’s global eye care and blindness prevention programs.
Nearly 2.2 billion live with some form of vision loss in the world. It is estimated that about half that number – nearly 1 billion people – have never received eye care. Most of them live in middle- and low-income countries. Some two-thirds of those who need glasses, don’t have access to them, and only 1 out of 2 people who need cataract surgery receive the procedure. The WHO collaborating centres are a multilateral network of high-quality eye care institutions that support the WHO in addressing these gaps and making integrated, people-centred eye care a reality.
As a WHO Collaborating Centre, LVPEI will support the United Nations body’s goal of achieving universal health coverage with its technical and operational expertise. LVPEI’s large pyramidal network and expertise in public health epidemiology will help generate evidence for best practices, train an adequate eye health workforce, and develop eye health guidelines.
A key area of expertise will be LVPEI’s experience in taking eye care to rural areas. A key aspect of universal health coverage will be ensuring that eye care is available to those who are underserved.
“This redesignation underscores two decades of collaboration between LVPEI and WHO in taking public health eye care forward,” noted Dr Gullapalli N. Rao, Founder Chair, LVPEI. “It is an honor and a responsibility. The burden of vision loss is highest in our settings—but so are the diversity of solutions. We look forward to making a difference in the coming years,” he said.
“The WHO Collaborating Centre designation includes a detailed work plan and the need for technical inputs into global eye care strategy for the next four years. I am confident that, in partnership with our colleagues in the WHO, we will be able to achieve our targets.” said Dr Rohit Khanna, Network Director–Public Health, LVPEI.