Prevent Blindness urges House and Senate to
quickly pass "Early Detection of Vision Impairments for Children
Act" to improve access, diagnosis, and treatment for kids
ages 2-17
CHICAGO, May 14, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Prevent Blindness, the nation's leading eye
health and safety organization, applauds the introduction of the
"Early Detection of Vision Impairments in Children (EDVI) Act," in
the U.S. House of Representatives and urges the 118th
Congress to move swiftly to pass the proposed legislation.
The EDVI Act, which seeks to establish grants for states
and communities to improve children's vision and eye health through
coordinated systems of care, is a bipartisan proposal, co-sponsored
by Congressional Vision Caucus (CVC) co-chairs, U.S. Representative
Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), and U.S.
Representative Marc Veasey (TX-33).
Companion legislation is expected to be introduced in the U.S.
Senate.
"As an American who has suffered from poor vision since
childhood, I have a first-hand understanding of how critical early
detection and treatment is when it comes to ensuring that all
children have the best possible start in life," said Rep.
Bilirakis. "Our landmark bill will ensure all children get the
screening and care they need at the right age by creating the
first-ever federally funded program to address children's vision
and eye health. This legislation will empower states and
communities, like mine, to improve systems of care for our youngest
citizens and their families."
"Children's vision and eye health is a critical aspect of a
child's healthy development that has been overlooked for far too
long," said Rep. Veasey, the newly appointed Democratic co-chair of
the CVC. "Healthy vision plays a key role in each child's
performance in school - when a child cannot see, their education
suffers. Texas families and
children across the country deserve equitable access to early
detection and care for vision issues, whether at school, in
the community, or across the healthcare spectrum. The Early
Detection of Vision Impairments for Children Act will ensure
children, their parents, and their caregivers can access the eye
care they need to thrive and succeed."
Despite the presence of numerous public health programs that
support early childhood development, including children's hearing
and oral health, there is currently no federally funded program in
the United States that
specifically addresses children's vision or that fosters a cohesive
and equitable system of eye health for children.
"More than one in every four children in America, or roughly
19.6 million, have a vision problem requiring treatment," said
Jeff Todd, president and CEO of
Prevent Blindness. "We know access to education, screenings,
examinations, diagnosis, and treatment are critical to preventing
vision loss, and this legislation is an important step in providing
children and their families with those services and the healthcare
they need and deserve."
"Vision plays a critical role in children's physical, cognitive,
and social development," said Donna
Fishman, director of the National Center for Children's
Vision and Eye Health at Prevent Blindness. "Without early
detection and treatment, uncorrected vision disorders can impair
child development, interfere with learning, and even lead to
permanent vision loss."
Visual functioning is a strong predictor of academic performance
in school-age children. If left untreated, common vision disorders
in childhood, such as amblyopia (lazy eye), strabismus (crossed
eyes), myopia (nearsightedness), or hyperopia (farsightedness), may
continue to affect health and well-being throughout the child's
life.
Currently, significant disparities exist in children's vision
and eye health outcomes and access to eye care across the United States. State laws to address
children's vision vary widely in approaches and often lack
protocols for referrals to eye care providers and documentation to
ensure eye care was received. States may also lack the necessary
resources to adequately capture data on rates of received eye care,
leading to challenges in addressing existing disparities among
demographic sub-populations or in rural or under-resourced
communities.
Under the EDVI Act, the Health Resources and Services
Administration (HRSA) at the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, will award grants and cooperative agreements for
states, communities, and tribes to:
- Implement approaches (such as vision screenings) for the early
detection of vision concerns in children, referrals for eye exams,
and follow-up mechanisms;
- identify barriers in access to eye care;
- reduce disparities in eye health; and/or
- develop state-based data collection, surveillance, and
performance improvement systems.
Resources will also be made available through the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention to establish a national level
technical assistance center to provide guidance to any state or
community implementing children's vision programs and to advance
population health research priorities in children's vision.
A broad spectrum of public health organizations support the
legislation, including American Academy of Ophthalmology, American
Academy of Optometry, American Association for Pediatric
Ophthalmology and Strabismus, American Optometric Association,
American Society of Ophthalmic Registered Nurses, Association of
Clinicians for the Underserved, Association of Maternal and Child
Health Programs, Children's Vision Equity Alliance, Family Voices,
Healthy Schools Campaign, National Alliance for Eye and Vision
Research, National Association of School Nurses, and the
School-Based Health Alliance, among others.
Prevent Blindness is asking the public to show support for the
EDVI Act and its goal of promoting children's vision and eye health
by contacting their Members of Congress and asking them to
co-sponsor the EDVI Act. Individuals can contact their
Representative by visiting the Prevent Blindness Legislative Action
Center.
"Implementing the EDVI Act will take a systems-based,
coordinated effort among a broad spectrum of stakeholders,
including health care professionals, families, patients and the
bipartisan leadership of Congress, as we seek to ensure all
children have access to the care necessary to avoid preventable
vision loss and blindness," concluded Todd.
For information on the EDVI Act and Prevent Blindness advocacy
efforts, please visit https://preventblindness.org/edvi-act, or
contact advocacy@PreventBlindness.org.
About Prevent Blindness
Founded in 1908, Prevent
Blindness is the nation's leading volunteer eye health and safety
organization dedicated to fighting blindness and saving
sight. Focused on promoting a continuum of vision care,
Prevent Blindness touches the lives of millions of people each year
through public and professional education, advocacy, certified
vision screening and training, community and patient service
programs and research. These services are made possible
through the generous support of the American public. Together
with a network of affiliates, Prevent Blindness is committed to
eliminating preventable blindness in America. For more
information, visit us at PreventBlindness.org, and follow us on
Facebook, X, Instagram, Threads, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Sean McBride
202.309.3050
smcbride@dsmstrategic.com
Sarah Hecker
312.363.6035
shecker@preventblindness.org
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SOURCE Prevent Blindness