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In January 2010, Sightsavers and our partners began work on a five-year project that will significantly contribute to achieving the goals of Vision2020: The Right to Sight, the global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness, in the Caribbean. The project, called Delivering V2020 in the Caribbean, is funded by the European Union and aims to eliminate avoidable blindness through capacity building, human resource and infrastructure development and awareness raising in Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St Lucia and the Caribbean region.

The current challenge

The Caribbean faces a number of challenges, including widespread poverty and inequality – particularly for people with visual impairment. There are approximately 13.3million people in the project countries, and around 1% are blind. 60% of this is due to cataract and 25% caused by glaucoma – a disease which over 50% of people do not realise they have. Many more are functionally blind due to a lack of refractive services; an estimated 225,000 people require low vision services.

There is also a widespread lack of awareness of eye health problems among the general public, health care personnel and key decision makers. The migration of skilled workers, and an uneven distribution of health care workers also impacts heavily on the Caribbean – those that do remain are often drawn to urban areas leaving rural and poor populations particularly vulnerable.

Our objectives

The project focuses on strengthening a number of areas including coordination between governments, non-governmental organisations and the private sector, implementation of national eye health plans, distribution of eye health professionals in rural areas and improving facilities and infrastructure.

The governments of the project countries have demonstrated their desire to achieve the objectives of Vision2020, but currently lack the expertise and resources to turn their commitment into successful eye health programmes. Sightsavers and our partners are working closely with Ministries of Health, National Vision2020 Committees and other organisations to improve cooperation at all levels, to promote the efficient use of existing resources and to provide new resources and expertise that will strengthen the overall health systems in each country.

Progress to date

The first phase of the project has been used to officially launch the project, establish systems, purchase equipment and recruit and orient partner staff, Vision 2020 Committees and other stakeholders.

This period also saw the start of the optometry degree course at the University of Guyana, the continuation of the Refractionist training course and a number of doctors started to train as Ophthalmologists. Training of Primary Health workers also started in all countries and low vision personnel have been trained in St Lucia and Jamaica.

Sightsavers and our partners have attended a number of eye health planning and development meetings at national level and the first annual Regional V2020 Committees meeting was held in Jamaica in November 2010.

The January earthquake in Haiti impacted heavily on our project partner and many eye health service providers. A number of activities have been rescheduled as a result, some brought forward in an effort to fill the gaps created by the earthquake. Equipment for one operating theatre and a vision centre was shipped to Haiti in August 2010.

Two spectacle labs, in Guyana and St Lucia, were recently upgraded with more effective and efficient equipment and lab staff received comprehensive training. This will ensure better availability of affordable spectacles to poor urban and rural communities in these countries.

This project is implemented by Sightsavers in collaboration with the Caribbean Council for the Blind – Eye Care Caribbean, Société Haïtienne d’Aide aux Aveugles, St Lucia Blind Welfare Association, Jamaica Society for the Blind and Eye Care Guyana and is funded by the European Union.