Comments
The International Agency for Preventable Blindness (IAPB) has urged Governments to rationalise the tariffs, duties and taxes imposed on eye health equipment, drugs and consumables.
In a series of recommendations under the ‘Hyderabad Declaration’, the agency said eye health and blindness prevention should be prioritised and included in national health policies and plans.
Focus should be on preventive and health promotion aspects of eye health care within community health and health service programmes. Practices for implementing the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities should also be promoted.
Over 1,550 delegates representing eye care professionals, researchers, governments, civil society and industry from all over the world attended the four-day 9th General Assembly of the IAPB, which ended today. The central theme of the meeting was “Eye Health: Everyone’s Business” addressed a key public health challenge of our time, the elimination of avoidable blindness and access to eye health services for all, a press release said. The other recommendations were investments in eye health structures, building and broadening alliances, and addressing the issues as part of the primary health care. The meeting felt that the key to success in Global Prevention of Blindness is a positive and close collaboration between WHO, IAPB, governments, professional bodies, civil society and the private sector at local, national, regional and global level.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.