Advocacy as a tool for scaling up political and professional commitment in VISION 2020

1. Advocacy as a tool for scaling up political and professional commitment in VISION 2020 Dr. Abdulaziz AlRajhi Executive Co-Chair, IAPB-EMR Dr. Mansur Rabiu Director of Programs

2. Advocacy • Advocacy is the process of influencing people to create change. • Advocacy uses information in deliberate and strategic ways to change perceptions and to influence decision-making • Advocacy ≠ education • Basic principle: If you do not ASK for it, you will not GET it. WHO Advocacy

3. Successes of Vision 2020Most achievements of Vision 2020 may be attributed to successful advocacy efforts. • Advocacy to WHO and national governments: • Two WHA resolutions • WHA 56.26 in 2003 • WHA 59.25 in 2006 • Action plan for avoidable blindness 2009 • WHO regional structure recognizes PB • Development of of follow up action plan 2013 -2019

4. Political commitment as result of Advocacy to National governments • 107 countries have formed national VISION 2002 committees • 135 countries have done a VISION 2020 workshop • 91 countries have a national eye care plan • Increasing public awareness and use of eye health-care services. • Increased provision of high-quality, sustainable eye care at least in some countries

5. Professionals commitments • Many ophthalmic societies are now more involved in national PB programs in terms of planning and implementation. • Regional; Like MEACO’s “PB Committee”International; Like ICO’s “‘uncorrected refractive error task force”. • Many residency programs have started including Community Ophthalmology within their residency training curricula. • Inclusion of eye health courses in scientific meetings and conferences

6. Corporate Commitment • Engagement of pharmaceutical companies –Merk, Pfizer, MSD, etc. in support of eye health through drugs donation • Engagement of financial institutions like SCB, IDB, Deutsche bank • Support by corporate bodies and bilateral organizations in Prevention of blindness and eye health researches e.g. British council scholarship for prevention of blindness researches in developing countries.

7. How were these successes achieved? • Strong global collaboration, partnership and unity of purpose: • NGOs, WHO, Governments, professional and corporate bodies partnership for Vision 2020 was very effective.

8. Effective Global and regional leadership • Strong purposeful determined and committed leadership for eye care at all levels International, Regional, National, District.

9. Consistency, commitment and perseverance: • Even with competing demands in health and social arenas, there was still strong drive to secure more political and economic support for eye health and PB

10. Evidence based approach strategies • Generation of evidence and effective use of them including use of economic impact studies

11. Flexibility • Adaptability to cope with changing trends in demography and epidemiology of diseases • Strategies to engage evolving global health priorities

12. Team work and inter-discipline cooperation • Multi-discipline cooperation and collaboration in approaches

13. Case studies of Australia and Pakistan advocacy efforts at national levels • Australia ($45m+) and Pakistan ($51m+) had achieved greater national government support for eye care . This can be attributed to common advocacy strategies they adopted, mainly • Generation and effective utilization of available evidence • Engaging government and policy makers and maintain credibility with government • Strengthen collaboration and partnership among all stakeholders in the country to form a broad base platform Rabiu MM, et al. Enhancing advocacy for eye care at national levels: what steps to take for the next decade? Middle East Afr J Ophthalmol. 2012 Jan;19(1):75-82.

14. Investing in Vision • A study by the Fred Hollows Foundation • Comparing the costs & benefits of eliminating avoidable Blindness and Visual Impairment

15. What do we need to do more ? • Generate more evidence on: • Successes of the interventions • Economic impact of visual impairment and • Strategies for tackling emerging challenges e.g. AMD, DR Glaucoma.. etc.

16. Advocacy tools • Demonstrate that eye care complements most national development and health programs • Show the alignment of eye care with the national poverty, development, disability, gender agendas.

17. Train NCs and National ophthalmic society leaders on advocacy skills, to engage governments, bi- and multi- lateral agencies and civil societies • Use of innovative media advocacy- strategy • Increase media coverage including use of fellowship and grants for reporting • Networks of voices: Identify media champions for blindness and form editors forum for eye care.

18. Identify local ambassadorsfor PB and eye health • Use of more high profile international and national personalities as ‘door openers’ • This should be customized to different countries, in some actors, musicians and other celebrities, in others National and religions leaders may be more appropriate.

19. Strengthen National Network and coalition for advocacy • Professional organizations to form national and regional networks to provide a solid platform for eye health advocacy and serve as a pressure group to influence national decisions on health and eye health • Network may link up with existing forum on disabilities , NCD, gender etc.

20. Info@PBU.org www.pbunion.org

21. Thankyou