Communities need sight loss education

There is a poor awareness of the eye health needs of black and minority ethnic (BME) communities among both the communities themselves and optical professionals, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Eye Health and Visual Impairment was told last week.

Addressing the group, Jasbir Behal, BME community coordinator of the Birmingham Focus on Blindness project, said that a variety of educational strategies were needed to rectify the situation.

The project was employing a number of strategies, including attending community events and festivals, publishing leaflets in several languages and hosting 'Sight loss information fairs'.

Importantly, the project had established a forum where BME and sight loss organisations could come together. Forum members were also offered training on this issue, in the hope they would take the information - and the message about preventable sight loss - back to their communities.