Second national eye health survey to track progress

By Rhiannon Riches
Assistant Editor

Vision 2020 Australia and the Centre for Eye Research Australia are planning a second National Eye Health Survey (NEHS) to accurately track for the first time progress in reducing the burden of blindness and vision impairment.

Vision 2020 CEO Carla Northam said that Australia was well positioned to conduct a follow-up study, equipped with the robust baseline data from 2016.

‘High-quality national data collected at two time points will allow for projection of the trends in vision impairment and major eye disease in Australia at a level of sophistication that has not been possible before,’ Ms Northam said.

Vision 2020 Australia and the Centre for Eye Research Australia expect testing preparations for the next NEHS will commence in 2017, with data collection to take place from September 2018 until April 2019 and results to be launched in 2019.

Both parties are now seeking project partners to join them.

‘Vision 2020 Australia wants the survey to be a truly collaborative partnership between the government, non-government and private sectors,’ Ms Northam said.

The NEHS was the first comprehensive national survey of the prevalence and causes of vision impairment and blindness in Australia.

According to Vision 2020, a number of public health and environmental factors highlight the need for a second study, including the rapid rise in the prevalence of diabetes, and consequently diabetic eye disease.