Prevent Blindness America Announces the Second Annual Focus on Eye Health National Summit
CHICAGO (March 19, 2013) – Building on the success of last year’s inaugural “Focus on Eye Health National Summit,” Prevent Blindness America and its partners announce the second annual Summit, set to take place on Tues., June 18, 2013. The event, which highlights advances in vision and public health, will take place from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Marriott at Metro Center in Washington, DC.
During the Summit, Prevent Blindness America will release a new report featuring cost data related to vision problems across the age spectrum. The Summit will also include presentations on the role of surveillance in vision and public health, women’s eye health, vision benefits for children, advances in low vision, and public health systems of care for vision.
Scheduled presentations include:
- Economic Impact of Vision Problems – John Wittenborn, NORC at the University of Chicago
- Vision Surveillance in the United States – Paul Lee, MD, JD, University of Michigan
- Health care Reform and Vision Benefits for Children – Joe Touschner, Georgetown university Health Policy Institute
- Women's Eye Health – Janine Austin Clayton, MD, NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health
- Surveillance Data Highlights – John Crews, DPA, CDC Vision Health Initiative and Mary Frances Cotch, PhD, National Eye Institute
Additional presentations are currently being finalized.
Expected attendees include patient advocates, community-based organizations, national vision and eye health organizations, government agencies, and potentially some legislative staff. A parallel Twitter conference will coincide with the event, posting live updates through the course of the Summit and encouraging Twitter followers and vision community partners to participate in the dialogue.
Current gold-level sponsors include Genentech, American Optometric Association and The Vision Council. Silver-level sponsors include the Alliance for Eye and Vision Research, American Academy of Ophthalmology, America Public Health Association – Vision Care Section, Foundation Fighting Blindness, Helen Keller International, Lighthouse International, Lions Clubs International, Vision 2020 USA, and VisionServe Alliance. Sponsorship opportunities are still available.
“During the first Summit last year, we observed how crucial bringing together leaders and key stakeholders in the fight against eye disease could be in terms of sharing information, experience, and expertise. We recognized that the Summit could provide them with the data they need to educate the public, as well as key policy makers, on how we can work collaboratively today to save the vision of millions of Americans in the future,” said Hugh R. Parry, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness America.
Once again, in conjunction with the Summit, PBA will hold its annual Eyes on Capitol Hill event, bringing those directly impacted by vision loss and blindness together with their government representatives; and a reception for the Congressional Vision Caucus (CVC) will be held the evening of the Summit. The CVC is a bicameral and bipartisan coalition of more than 100 Congressional Members dedicated to strengthening and stimulating a national dialogue and policy on vision-related problems and disabilities.
For more information about the Prevent Blindness America Focus on Eye Health: A National Summit or sponsorship opportunities, please visit advocacy.preventblindness.org/eyesummit or call (800) 331-2020.
Download a copy of the Focus on Eye Health National Summit press release.
