International Women's Day 2019
On International Women’s Day, Victoria Sheffield, President & CEO, International Eye Foundation and Vice President, IAPB reminisces on her journey in eye care…
Vision 2020/USA with Leading Vision and Eye Health Groups Urge U.S. Surgeon General to Issue Call to Action for the Year 2020
- Coalition Drafts Letter to Jerome M. Adams M.D., U.S. Surgeon General, to Help Lead the Charge to Improving Vision Programs, Access to Care, and More -
Universal Children’s Day: USAID Child Blindness Program and International Eye Foundation
A child’s eye is not simply a small adult eye. The structures are tighter and special instruments are needed to examine or perform surgery on a child’s eye, especially a newborn baby’s eye. Children who need eye surgery usually need general anesthesia because asking a child to lay very still for an hour simply doesn’t work. Pediatric ophthalmologists are somewhat of a rare breed and clinic staff who care for infants and children with eye disease need special training, technology, and a lot of patience. We cannot always help in the “patience” department, but we certainly can support specialty training and technology.
Robert Middlebrooks quoted in Give.org article, The Benchmark for Giving
Article by Gabriel Sanchez.
With so much need in this world, it’s no wonder that many good-hearted people want to do what they can to help. Some folks volunteer their time and talent, but not everyone can do that. Others donate clothing, food, and supplies, but there’s always the problem of getting the goods to the people who need them most.
Integrative Sciences LLC, International Eye Foundation, and DSA Global Partners Win Bid Manage USAID Child Blindness Program
The International Eye Foundation (IEF) with prime contractor Integrative Sciences (IntSci) and subcontractor DSA Global Partners (DSA), has been awarded the contract to implement the Child Blindness Program (CBP) on behalf of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) over the next five years 2018-2023.
Pioneering Community-Based Ivermectin Distribution in Cameroon
When Merck and Company made Mectizan® available for mass distribution, grants from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the River Blindness Foundation enabled IEF to pioneer the first “community-based” Mectizan® distribution programme in Africa. This was done in 1990 in collaboration with Africare in Adamawa Province, Nigeria. At the same time, the first such community-based programme was established by IEF in Yepocapa, Guatemala which was rolled into the Onchocerciasis Elimination Programme for the Americas (OEPA). We then followed with programmes in the Thyolo Highlands of Malawi in 1991; in Cameroon’s South Region in 1991 and Adamaoua Region in 1997.
IEF hosts first Awareness for Onchocerciasis (River Blindness) 5K Run/Walk at Anacostia Park in Washington, D.C.
Onchocerciasis is an eye and skin disease caused by a parasitic worm transmitted through black fly bites, that live near rivers and streams. This is the second-most common cause of blindness from infection. IEF has been part of an initiative to control Onchocerciasis in Cameroon. Since 1992, Merck & Company, Inc. has donated Mectizan® to be distributed through Cameroon's Adamoua and South Provinces.