Join our Capitol Call-in and Be a Voice for Vision!
Prevent Blindness America is hosting our fifth annual Eyes on Capitol Hill advocacy campaign March 9-12, 2010. We start the week off with a national Capitol Call-in on March 9. This event is a unique opportunity for our advocates across the country to get involved and educate lawmakers about vision and eye health.
Prevent Blindness America respectfully calls upon Congress to take these actions to help prevent blindness and preserve sight:
1. Increase FY 2011 funding to $5 million for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention's Vision Health Initiative. This level of investment will help sustain and expand efforts to address the growing public health threat of preventable vision loss among older American's low-income and underserved populations.
2. Request $1.2 million in FY 2011 to support the Maternal and Child Health Bureau's (MCHB) National Universal Vision Screening for Young Children's Coordinating Center (Center). This level of funding will support: 1) a broader partnership and expanded coordination between the Center, the state agencies that administer the Title V MCHB Block Grant, and other state public health entities to improve the early identification of vision problems in children, and 2) a consensus conference involving MCHB, CDC, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the National Eye Institute, and the Office of Head Start to establish national standards for vision screening in young children.
3. Join the Congressional Vision Caucus (CVC). The CVC is a bipartisan, bicameral group of Members of Congress who work collaboratively to raise awareness among their colleagues and Congressional staff about: the growing number of Americans at risk for age-related eye diseases; the need for greater understanding of the personal risk of vision loss and ways in which eyesight can be preserved and protected; and the treatment and rehabilitation services that are needed to address eye health and vision loss.
For more information about Prevent Blindness America's Capitol Call-in and to obtain your Representative and Senators' phone numbers, go to:
https://secure2.convio.net/pba/site/Advocacy?alertId=175&pg=makeACall&JServSessionIdr004=rjbqd84bu2.app43a
Thank you for being a Voice for Vision!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
1 comment:
"Allaboutvision said that, Currently more than 5 million Americans age 40 and older have diabetic retinopathy due to Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. And that number will grow to about 16 million by 2050, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and other researchers. Moreover, Arizona Eye Care added that, the CDC also estimates that between 12,000 and 24,000 new cases of blindness related to diabetic retinopathy occur in the United States each year.
People who are most vulnerable to diabetic retinopathy, including the elderly and certain minorities, may not receive appropriate eye care because of lack of health insurance or access even to primary care physicians.
"
Post a Comment