Bill Harvey: Magic bus

I have promised not to mention our orange friend across the ocean ever again in this column.

Last year I was lucky enough to attend a symposium at which the World Health Organisation launched their Report on vision. ECPs from around the world were unanimous in their support of a plan which identified that ‘Eye care is a good investment. Preventing eye conditions and vision impairment will lead to improved productivity and reduce informal and intangible costs.’ It was emphasised that a global challenge requires a global response.

A few days ago, the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness released a statement in support of the WHO. It states: ‘The WHO’s leadership has been critical in taking us to the verge of eliminating trachoma and river blindness, the main infectious diseases that cause blindness, as well as blinding malnutrition in children, and significantly reducing the prevalence of vision impairment worldwide.’