How Can Eye Health Advance Healthy Ageing?

Find out at 2030 In Sight Live – 3:15pm Thursday 27 ^th June (Spanish session)

Meanwhile, you can read more about the recent meeting on this topic held in the Western Pacific this past April.

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In the recent 2023 report “Connecting Healthy Aging and Vision,” it was revealed that a 73% of avoidable vision impairment occurs in older age, affecting approximately 800 million individuals aged 50 and above worldwide, with this number expected to rise to a staggering 1.28 billion by 2050. To address these challenges, a multi-stakeholder meeting was convened by IAPB Western Pacific and the Fred Hollows Foundation in Manila in April 2024.

The gathering brought together representatives from all across the vision and aging sectors with the aim to exchange best practices, explore innovative solutions, and forge strategic partnerships. The meetings were invaluable in fostering meaningful discussions and advancing our collective understanding of the critical intersections between eye health and aging. The diverse perspectives and expertise shared by all participants laid a solid foundation for future collaborations and initiatives aimed at improving the quality of life for older populations across the region.

Key outcomes of the meeting included:

• Shared understanding of the linkages between WHO frameworks used by the eye health and aging sectors.
• Identification of barriers and enablers to collaboration between sectors in delivering integrated models of care.
• Exploration of opportunities for joint initiatives and improved collaboration between the two sectors.

A significant outcome of the meeting was the commitment of the participants to collaborative action through the development of the Manila Statement. The statement advocates for joint action to bridge gaps between vision and aging agendas and the commitment to preserve and protect vision in older age, which is essential in the advancement of healthy aging.

Utilising the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing as a unique opportunity to elevate global awareness and catalyse political action, key commitments of the Manila Statement include empowering older people in decision-making, promoting integrated models of care inclusive of eye health, advocating for age-friendly environments, increasing investments in healthcare services, and fostering multi-sectoral collaboration, with an emphasis on accountability and data integration in achieving these goals.

Overall, the meeting underscored the urgent need for collective efforts to ensure that every older person has access to the eye care they need, contributing to a future where ageing is synonymous with dignity, vitality, and well-being.

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¿Cómo puede la salud ocular promover un envejecimiento saludable?

Descúbrelo en 2030 In Sight Live – 3:15 p.m. jueves 27 de junio (sesión en español)

Mientras tanto, puede leer más sobre la reciente reunión sobre este tema celebrada en la región Pacífico Occidental el pasado mes de abril.

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En el reciente informe de la OMS del año 2023 “Conectando el envejecimiento saludable y la visión”, se reveló que un 73 % de los problemas de visión evitables se producen en la vejez, lo que afecta aproximadamente a 800 millones de personas de 50 años o más en todo el mundo, y se espera que esta cifra aumente a la asombrosa cifra de 1.280 millones para 2050. Para abordar estos desafíos, IAPB del Pacifico occidental y la Fundación Fred Hollows de Australia, convocaron a una reunión de múltiples actores interesados en Manila en abril de 2024.

La reunión contó con representantes de todos los sectores de la visión y el envejecimiento con el objetivo de intercambiar mejores prácticas, explorar soluciones innovadoras y forjar asociaciones estratégicas. Las reuniones fueron invaluables para fomentar debates significativos y avanzar en nuestra comprensión colectiva de las intersecciones críticas entre la salud ocular y el envejecimiento. Las diversas perspectivas y conocimientos compartidos por todos los participantes sentaron una base sólida para futuras colaboraciones e iniciativas destinadas a mejorar la calidad de vida de las poblaciones mayores en toda la región.

Los resultados clave de la reunión incluyeron:

• Comprensión compartida de los vínculos entre los marcos de la OMS utilizados por los sectores de salud ocular y envejecimiento.
• Identificación de barreras y facilitadores de la colaboración entre sectores en la entrega de modelos integrados de atención.
• Exploración de oportunidades para iniciativas conjuntas y mejora de la colaboración entre los dos sectores.

An important outcome of the meeting was the commitment of participants to collaborative action through the development of the Manila Declaration. The declaration calls for joint action to close the gaps between the vision and ageing agendas and a commitment to preserving and protecting vision in old age, which is essential for advancing healthy ageing.

Using the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing as a unique opportunity to raise global awareness and catalyse political action, key commitments in the Manila Declaration include empowering older people in decision-making, promoting integrated models of care that include eye health, advocating for policies that are friendly to older people and their environments, increasing investments in health services and fostering multi-sector collaboration, with an emphasis on accountability and data integration to achieve these goals.

Overall, the meeting underlined the urgent need for collective efforts to ensure that all older people have access to the eye care they need, contributing to a future in which ageing is synonymous with dignity, vitality and well-being.