It might seem like diseases don’t discriminate. But avoidable blindness absolutely does. When people are excluded from their right to good health, they are often at greater risk of developing otherwise preventable and treatable eye diseases.

All too often these groups are women, older people, displaced peoples, people living with a disability and people affected by income inequality. Health equity and inclusion is at the heart of The Foundation’s sight-saving work.

There are many layers of marginalization and inequity that make it hard, if not impossible, for people to access the eye care they need. We are committed to helping restore sight to these disadvantaged groups.

One way we do this is through the adoption of an equity organizing framework called GAPSED+ which stands for Gender, Age, Place of Residence, Socio-economic Status, Ethnicity/ Indigeneity/Race, Disability, Plus.

This equity framework is used to guide and inform our programming approach to ensure that everyone has equitable access to eye health and that no one is left behind.

Without intervention, these vulnerable people’s future, livelihood and at times, their life is in jeopardy.

These are some of the biggest barriers impacting equity in eye health.

Gender

It is unacceptable that globally, 55% of the world's blind are women. Women also suffer from higher rates of vision impairment. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop there – gender disparity also prevents women from using the eye health services they need, at the same rates as men.

Most of the women facing avoidable blindness live in middle to low income countries where they have limited, if any, access to health services. A range of factors prevent them from getting the help they need, including family responsibilities, financial dependence, restricted access to transport, and limits on freedom of movement.

Ageing

Globally 86% of people who are blind or vision impaired are 50-years-old or over, with more than half over the age of 70. These groups are at a higher risk of developing many eye conditions.

Older people often believe that their vision loss is a part of the normal ageing process, and unavoidable – often not knowing that many eye conditions, like cataract, can be treated. This means they’re less likely to seek out eye care services or ask their family members to take time off work to help them attend an eye clinic.

Place of residence

Where a person lives can prevent them from getting the eye care they need. Generally, people who live in lower-income countries suffer poorer eye health outcomes. Increasing rates of urbanization and inequality within urban areas is also an area of concern. Most eye health professionals work in cities meaning people in rural and remote areas often miss out on treatment.

Socio-Economic

Poverty, income, employment status, education level, and other socio-economic factors also limit people from accessing and affording treatment for conditions which cause avoidable blindness and vision impairment. 89% of blind and visually impaired people live in low and middle income countries.

Ethnicity/Indigeneity

Blindness and vision loss has been shown to disproportionately impact Indigenous and Tribal Peoples around the world.

Cultural attitudes and issues of racism and discrimination based on ethnicity all prevent people from accessing the eye care they need.

Disability

People with disabilities have the same health care needs as other people in the community, however they often face widespread barriers in accessing health services.

Some of these barriers include a lack of awareness and understanding about disability, negative attitudes and discrimination, lack of accessibility, and a lack of participation in decisions that directly affect their lives.

Other factors that cause inequity in eye health

The Foundation acknowledges that there are other barriers and most likely several interacting barriers that negatively affect equity in eye health services and outcomes.

Some of these factors include migrant status, religion, and displacement (refugees).

Our achievements and impact

As part of our sight-saving work, we aim to achieve gender equity and inclusion in all our operations and program work.

In 2018, we achieved the following outcomes:

142 female surgeons trained, that’s 43% women
1,108 female clinic support staff trained, that’s 57% women
48,070 female community health workers trained, that’s 57% women
52% of eye operations and treatments were for women
25% of eye operations and treatments were for people over the age of 50
2,396,121 years of sight saved for women, that’s 63% of total years of sight saved.
112,243 cases of blindness and vision impairment averted, that’s 58% of total cases.

THIS has been your impact over the last year

In 2019, The Foundation focused on building a powerful eye health network with other partners and organisations to achieve more - this is having a massive impact!

The Fred Hollows Foundation hasn’t stopped for 28 years, and we won’t stop until no-one faces a future of avoidable blindness.

This year will be our toughest year yet, and now more than ever we will rely on our loyal donors to continue our life-changing work. Thank you for staying with us! Like what you see? Give us a like, share this video, and subscribe! Subscribe to our channel here

Gender, Equity & Inclusion