Vision 2020 - World Health Organization

VISION 2020: THE RIGHT TO SIGHT
6.
Delineate the various roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders.
7. Perform a comprehensive situation and needs analysis, covering all existing eye-care services and
eye-related health issues in a given population.
8. Develop a VISION 2020 prevention of blindness national plan, which should be feasible and appropriate
for the country.
9. Implement the VISION 2020 prevention of blindness plan, by generating and using domestic
resources rather then relying on external support from international nongovernmental development
organizations.
10. Establish monitoring systems to review progress.
11. Assess and evaluate achievements periodically.
Intensified support to selected countries
The intention is to concentrate efforts to ensure progress towards implementing national VISION 2020
plans in 26 countries identifi ed as requiring support. The selected countries are Armenia, Bangladesh,
Cambodia, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Fiji, Guatemala, Guyana, Indonesia,
Jamaica, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Republic of
Moldova, United Republic of Tanzania, Yemen and selected districts or states of China, India and the
Russian Federation.
The intensifi ed assistance to these countries is not intended to impose limitations on other countries
that are developing national VISION 2020 programmes. In the selected countries, two areas that require
immediate attention are:
• provision of technical support for formulating national plans and programmes for the prevention
of blindness; and
• improving coordination among the various stakeholders involved in implementation of national
VISION 2020 programmes.
Financial sustainability
In order to make national VISION 2020 programmes sustainable, a number of fi nancing mechanisms
can be considered:
• Insurance schemes: Private or government health insurance schemes are increasingly available to
help patients cover the cost of medical treatment; however, such schemes are still found predominantly
in middle- and high-income countries, and most poor population groups still have limited or
no coverage. In many instances, such insurance schemes cover only government employees and
persons with remunerated posts.
• Government subsidies: Governments have limited and often decreasing resources for eye health
care. Additionally, prevention of blindness is usually not seen as a priority, despite the evidence
that restoration or preservation of sight is a cost-effective health intervention. Governments should
be made aware of the benefi ts of preventing and curing blindness.
• Cost recovery from patients: Patients with suffi cient income can be asked to pay for services, and
the revenue can be used to subsidize services for patients with low income, who could not otherwise
afford treatment. This model has been used successfully in some Asian countries (e.g. India and
57