The document outlines the National Prevention of Blindness Program which aims to eliminate avoidable blindness in the Philippines by 2020 in accordance with the global VISION 2020 initiative. It identifies the top three preventable causes of blindness - cataract, refractive errors, and childhood blindness. The program's vision is for all Filipinos to enjoy the right to sight by 2020 through strengthening partnerships, empowering communities, providing quality eye care, and alleviating poverty by restoring sight. Key objectives include increasing cataract surgeries and reducing visual impairment from refractive errors and childhood blindness.

1. NATIONAL PREVENTION OF
BLINDNESS PROGRAM

2. I. BACKGROUND
VISION 2020:
The right to sight
-is a global initiative to eliminate
avoidable blindness by the year 2020.
AIM: to develop sustainable
comprehensive health care system to
ensure the best possible vision for all
people and thereby improve quality of
life.

3. PRIORITY: 5 preventable/treatable
conditions (cataract, refractive errors
and low vision, trachoma,
onchocerciasis, and childhood
blindness)
-by improving the eye care services and
targeting the 5 diseases globally instead
of 75M blind people by year 2020. the
number is calculated to be less than
25M.

4.  75% of blindness and visual impairment
in the philippines is a result of 3
preventable or treatable conditions:
-CATARACT
-REFRACTIVE ERRORS and LOW
VISION
-CAUSES OF CHILDHOOD BLINDNESS
If priorityis given to these 3 diseases, then
in 2020, instead of morethan 790,000
blind people, it is calculated that there
will be less than 300,000.

5.  A successful VISION2020 will prevent
400,000 filipinos becoming blind.
 VISUAL IMPAIRMENT: 4.62%
 BILATERAL BLINDNESS: 0.58%
 MONOCULAR BLINDNESS:1.07%
 BLIATERAL LOW VISION: .64%
 MONOCULAR LOW VISION: 1.33%
 Highest prevalence of visual impairment
is found in region 2.

6.  The lowest is found in CARAGA.
 There are almost half a million blind
filipinos today. (as of 2000)
 There is a decrease blindness
prevalence over the past 7 years.
 Errors of refraction is the leading cause
of visual impairment and of bilateral
ormonocular low vision.

7.  prevalence of blindness among age
group of 0-19 is 0.06%. The causes are
cataract, error of refraction, phthisis
bulbi, amblyopia and optic artrophy.

8. II. VISION, MISSION, GOAL AND
OBJECTIVES
 VISION: All filipinos enjoy the right to sight
by year 2020.
 MISSION:
1. Strengthen partnership among and with
stakeholders to eliminate avoidable
blindness in the philippines
2. Empower communities to take proactive
roles in the promotion of eye health and
prevention of blindness
3. provide access to quality eye care
services for all

9. 4. Work towards poverty alleviation
through preservation and restoration of
sight to indigent Filipinos.
GOAL: Reduce the prevalence of
avoidable blindness in the Philippines
through the provision of quality eye care
OBJECTIVES:
No. 1: Increase cataract surgical rate from
730 to 2,500 by the year 2010.

10. No.2: Reduce visual impairment due to
refractive errors by 10% by the year
2010.
No.3: Reduce the prevalence of visual
disability in children from 0.43% to
0.20% by the year 2010.

11. III. INTERVENTIONS BY EYE
DISORDER
1. CATARACT
- Opacification of the normally clear lens of
the eye, is the most common cause of
blindness worlwide.
- -cause in 62% of blindness in the
Philippines
- CURE: Surgery
- INTERVENTIONS:
a. Increasing awareness about cataract and
cataract surgery
b. Improving the delivery of cataract services

12. 2. Errors of refraction
- Is the most common cause of visual
impairment in the country.
- CURE: are corrected either with
spectacle glasses, contact lenses or
surgery
- Optometrists

13. 3. Childhood blindness
- The prevalence of blindness among
children up to age 19 is 0.06% while the
prevalence of visual impairment in the
same group is 0.43%
- the problem of childhood blindness is the
highly specialized services that are needed
to diagnose and treat it
- screening of children for any sign of visual
ipmairment my be done by pediatricians,
school clinics, and health workers.

14. VISION 2020 Philippines envisions to
eliminate avoidable blindness
through 3 strategies:
a. Ensuring that cataract surgery is
available, acessible, and affordable to
everyone.
b. reduction of the prevalence of cataract,
blinding error of refraction and vitamin A
deficiency thru enhanced services
c. Pooling of resources of government
and non-government agencies to
address the problem of cataract,
blinding error or refraction, and vitamin A
deficiency.