The Barcelona Macula Foundation joins the “Eye Care for All” campaign, part of World Sight Day
The Barcelona Macula Foundation: Research for Vision has lent its support to the campaign by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) entitled “Eye Care for All”, which forms part of World Sight Day on October 8. This is an awareness-raising campaign focused on the care of those who live with blindness or sight problems.
According to the World Health Organisation, approximately 285 million people worldwide suffer from blindness or low vision. Of these, some 19 million are children. Ninety per cent of blind people live in underdeveloped countries and around 65% of them are over 50 years old.
These figures oblige us to take action to combat the eye diseases that cause blindness as many of them remain without an effective treatment. This is why research is vital.
Diseases that were incurable previously, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in its wet form, may now be treated because of research. The rigorous, effective and demanding work of researchers, together with essential funding, have enabled us today to halt diseases that were untreatable until very recently.
Dr. Jordi Monés, the Director of the Barcelona Macula Foundation, is optimistic when it comes to setting a timeframe to find solutions for pathologies that today are without them. He believes that “at the current pace and with the right financial resources, it is possible to find treatments for eye pathologies that cause blindness such as dry AMD within a period of five and ten years”.
We at the Barcelona Macula Foundation conduct research in order to discover cures for diseases that today are incurable. To do so, we need the support of individuals and institutions to achieve this as quickly as possible.
The Barcelona Macula Foundation is collaborating with the Institut de la Màcula on the campaign, “Live For Seeing”, by conducting early detection tests in order to identify age-related macular degeneration in time. You can find further information on the campaign using this link.
Degenerative diseases act very fast. It is up to us to be faster.
Collaborate with us at barcelonamaculafound.org.