Prevent Blindness to hold 18th annual “Eyes on Capitol Hill” advocacy event

Prevent Blindness will hold its 18th annual Eyes on Capitol Hill advocacy event March 7-8. (Image Credit: Adobe Stock/Sagittarius Pro)

Continuing its tradition of patient support, Prevent Blindness will hold its 18th annual Eyes on Capitol Hill advocacy event March 7-8.

According to a press release from Prevent Blindness, it will bring together patients, care partners, allied personnel, and medical professionals to speak directly with their elected officials to discuss a variety of vision and eye health issues, and the need for legislative and funding support.

Some of the issues they hope to address include inequitable access to eyecare, health and income disparities, the negative impact of vision loss on independence and mental health, and the emotional and financial toll that eye diseases and conditions continue to impart.

According to the release, Eyes on Capitol Hill will also allow members of the ASPECT (Advocacy, Support, Perspective, Empowerment, Communication, and Training) Patient Engagement Program to share their stories with legislators and utilize other essential advocacy communication skills learned throughout the duration of their experience in the program.

The ASPECT Program aims to strengthen patient empowerment efforts for vision into a coordinated program that engages the individual in a more comprehensive manner. The goal of the ASPECT Program is to empower individuals to be engaged in their eye health from every direction and in every way, according to the company.

According to the release 2023 Eyes on Capitol Hill advocates will specifically ask elected officials to:

• Support a funding level of $5 million in Fiscal Year 2024 for the Vision and Eye Health Budget Line, which provides federal funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Vision Health Initiative. The CDC’s Vision Health Initiative (VHI) conducts national-level surveillance, engages in partnerships that promote early detection and connect people at high risk for eye diseases to eye care, and shares best practices with states and communities about incorporating vision and eye health into community-level interventions.
  
  
• Maintain the current funding level of the CDC’s glaucoma program at $4 million in FY2024. This funding will allow the CDC to continue glaucoma detection, referral, and treatment programs through community-level partnerships that have successfully reached high-risk and underserved populations and connected them to glaucoma care.
  
  
• Join the bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Vision Caucus (CVC), dedicated to strengthening and stimulating a national dialogue and policy on vision-related problems and disabilities. The mission of the CVC is to raise awareness about the increasing number of Americans at risk for age-related eye diseases and those who face vision loss due to chronic disease.
  
  

“The Eyes on Capitol Hill program provides our legislators a unique opportunity to truly understand how vision issues impact their constituents through the personal stories of patients, families, medical professionals and more,” said Jeff Todd, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness. “Now in our 18th consecutive year, we are proud to continue this legacy of patient advocacy and look forward to working with government officials to help save sight.”