[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 61 (Wednesday, May 5, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E749]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               IN SUPPORT OF THE NATIONAL VISION STRATEGY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DAVID E. PRICE

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 5, 2004

  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the 
Congressional Vision Caucus, I rise to recognize May as Healthy Vision 
Month, and to discuss the importance of the recommendations of the 
Vision Problems Action Plan, A National Public Health Strategy to the 
prevention of blindness and vision loss.
  Good vision is critical to conducting activities of daily living, and 
it affects developmental learning, communication, work, health, and 
quality of life. Unfortunately, far too many people are at risk for 
losing their eyesight. More than 80 million Americans have a 
potentially blinding eye disease, 3 million have low vision, 1.1 
million are legally blind, and an additional 200,000 are more severely 
visually impaired. Despite the fact that half of all blindness can be 
prevented, far too many people do not have access to the care they 
need. If current trends continue, the number of blind and visually 
impaired individuals will double by 2030.
  Healthy Vision Month, a component of Healthy People 2010, is a 
national eye health campaign to raise awareness about the various 
conditions that can affect eyesight and cause vision loss. 
Additionally, a coalition of leading eye health experts have just 
released the Vision Problems Action Plan, A National Public Health 
Strategy to provide our nation with a framework for preventing vision 
loss. This groundbreaking study recommends that, in order to reduce the 
occurrence of vision loss and its accompanying disabilities, we must 
concentrate our efforts on three priority areas: prevention; access to 
care and treatment; and research.
  Our public health and prevention campaign must ensure that vision 
programs at the National Eye Institute (NEI) and the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have the resources they need to 
improve communication and education campaigns, increase surveillance, 
support epidemiology and prevention research; and implement appropriate 
program and policy changes.
  In order to ensure access to and availability of treatment and 
rehabilitation services for individuals with vision loss, we must 
support programs at the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services 
(CMS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that remove 
barriers and improve access to eye exams currently covered under 
Medicare, such as diabetic eye exams and glaucoma detection for high 
risk populations. We must also strengthen the Medicare program to 
advance coverage for vision rehabilitation services as provided by 
orientation and mobility specialists, rehabilitation teachers, and low-
vision therapists.
  Finally, we must bolster our research efforts to improve our 
understanding of the eye and visual system in health and disease, and 
to develop the most effective means of prevention, treatment and 
rehabilitation. This report provides the roadmap we need to raise 
awareness about vision loss, give individuals the tools they need to 
prevent it, and give hope to the millions already suffering from vision 
loss that better treatments for can be found.
  As a co-chair of the Congressional Vision Caucus, I would like to 
thank all of the organizations involved in crafting this report, 
including the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American 
Optometric Association, the CDC, Lighthouse International, the National 
Alliance For Eye and Vision Research, the NEI and most importantly, 
Prevent Blindness America. Prevent Blindness America should be 
commended for spearheading this effort, for bringing together this 
coalition of experts, and for its almost century-long dedication to 
preventing vision loss.

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