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About the Vision Loss Expert Group (VLEG)
The Vision Atlas is powered by data produced by the Vision Loss Expert Group.
About the Vision Loss Expert Group (VLEG)
(Opens in a new window) The Vision Loss Expert Group (VLEG) is an international group of mainly ophthalmologists and optometrists with experience in ophthalmic epidemiology. VLEG provides global technical leadership in the development and improvement of epidemiological estimates for blindness and vision impairment.The VLEG has more than 100 members from multiple institutions across the world. The VLEG team hold the strong belief in collaboration and dissemination of key information (‘actionable data’) to better the lives of people affected or at risk of vision loss and its multiple sequelae.
History of VLEG
The group was convened in 2007 to assist the Global Burden of Disease study (GBD). VLEG populates and curates the Global Vision Database (GVD), a continuously updated, comprehensive online database storing world-wide ophthalmic epidemiological information. The VLEG has published the global, regional and country-level estimates for blindness and vision impairment every 5 years (2010, 2015, 2020) in the Lancet Global Health and other journals.
VLEG works closely with the World Health Organization, for example in providing the 2015 vision impairment data that underpinned the WHO Report on Vision 2019.
VLEG and the Vision Atlas
The VLEG and the International Agency for Prevention of Blindness conceived the concept of the Vision Atlas in 2016 as a means of disseminating to any internet user, country-specific prevalence data on blindness and vision impairment, by cause and gender for regions, including functionality to look at time trends. The renewed Vision Atlas in 2020 (following the original launch in 2017) uses data from the VLEG/GBD 2020 model.
For the 2020 estimates, the VLEG has worked closely with the GBD (supported by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) to update the GBD vision loss model, so that one set of estimates is published by that collaboration.
VLEG funders
VLEG is currently funded by Brien Holden Vision Institute, Fondation Théa, Gates Foundation, Lions Clubs International Foundation, Sightsavers International, The Fred Hollows Foundation and University of Heidelberg. VLEG continues its work of curating the Global Vision Database for future outputs.
Further information on its activities and publications can be found at www.globalvisiondata.org. To contact the VLEG team please email: [email protected]
With grateful thanks to:
How to cite the Vision Atlas map data and VLEG/GBD 2020 model
Vision Atlas map data is from the VLEG/GBD 2020 model. If distributing/publishing this model’s data by using data obtained from the maps, it is obligatory to reference these 2 published data sources as follows:
Bourne R, Steinmetz J, Flaxman S, et al., Trends in prevalence of blindness and distance and near vision impairment over 30 years: an analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study. Lancet Glob Health. 2020. Accessed via the IAPB Vision Atlas (https://www.iapb.org/learn/vision-atlas)
Adelson, J., Bourne, R. R. A., Briant, P. S., Flaxman, S., Taylor, H., Jonas, J. B., et al., Causes of blindness and vision impairment in 2020 and trends over 30 years, and prevalence of avoidable blindness in relation to VISION 2020: the Right to Sight: an analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study. Lancet Global Health. 2020. Accessed via the IAPB Vision Atlas (https://www.iapb.org/learn/vision-atlas)
VLEG Members
| First Name | Last Name | Institution |
|---|---|---|
| Rupert | Bourne | Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK |
| Wondu | Alemayehu | The Fred Hollows Foundation |
| Aries | Arditi | Visibility Metrics LLC, New York, USA |
| Alessandro | Arrigo | Scientific Institute San Raffaele Hospital, Vita-Salute University, Milan, Italy |
| Yaniv | Barkana | Assaf Harofe Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel |
| Mukharram | Bikbov | Ophthalmology Department, Ufa Eye Research Institute, Ufa, Russia |
| Michele | Bottone | Department of Mathematics and Data Science Institute, Imperial College London |
| Banu | Bozkurt | Department of Ophthalmology, Meram Medical Faculty, Selcuk University, Konya, Turkey |
| Tasanee | Braithwaite | Medical Eye Unit, St Thomas' Hospital, London, UK |
| Alain | Bron | Service d'Ophtalmologie CHU Dijon, France |
| Donald | Budenz | University of Miami, Miami, USA |
| Robert | Casson | University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia |
| Ching-Yu | Cheng | Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore |
| Jaewan | Choi | Hangil Eye Hospital, Incheon, South Korea |
| Tham Yih | Chung | Ocular Epidemiology Research Group, Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore |
| Maria Vittoria | Cicinelli | San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy. |
| Nathan | Congdon | The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Reza | Dana | Massachussets Eye & Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA |
| Rakhi | Dandona | George Institute for International Health, Sydney, Australia |
| Lalit | Dandona | Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA |
| Iva | Dekaris | Eye Clinic Svjetlost, Zagreb, Croatia |
| Monte | Del Monte | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA |
| Jenny | Deva | University Tunku Abdul Rahman, Dept of Surgery (Ophthalmology) , Selangor, Malaysia |
| Mohamed | Dirani | Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore |
| Laura | Dreer | University of Alabama, Birmingham, USA |
| Joshua | Ehrlich | University of Michigan, USA |
| Leon | Ellwein | National Eye Institute, Bethesda, USA |
| Arthur | Fernandes | Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Federal University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil |
| Seth | Flaxman | Department of Mathematics and Data Science Institute, Imperial College London |
| Marcela | Frazier | University of Alabama at Birmingham |
| Kevin | Frick | Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA |
| David | Friedman | Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, USA |
| João | Furtado | University of São Paulo, São Paulo , Brazil |
| Hua | Gao | Henry Ford Medical Center, Dept of Ophthalmology |
| Andrew | Gazzard | Institute of Ophthalmology, London |
| Ronnie | George | Medical Research Foundation, Chennai, India |
| Stephen | Gichuhi | University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya |
| Billy | Hammond | University of Georgia, Athens, USA |
| Mary Elizabeth | Hartnett | University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA |
| Minguang | He | University of Melbourne, Melbourne, USA |
| James | Hejtmancik | National Eye Institute, Bethesda, USA |
| Flavio | Hirai | Federal University of Sao Paulo, Brazil |
| John | Huang | Yale University School of Medicine, Connecticut, USA |
| April | Ingram | Alberta Children's Hospital, Calgary, Canada |
| Jonathan | Javitt | Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA |
| Jost | Jonas | Department of Ophthalmology, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany |
| Charlotte | Joslin | University of Illinois, Chicago, USA |
| Rim | Kahloun | Associated Ophthalmologists of Monastir, Monastir, Tunisia |
| John | Kempen | Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Harvard University, USA |
| Moncef | Khairallah | University Hospital Monastir,Tunisia |
| Rohit | Khanna | L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India |
| Judy | Kim | Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA |
| Van Charles | Lansingh | HelpMeSee, Inc. New York, USA |
| Paolo | Lanzetta | Department of Ophthalmology, University of Udine. Udine, Italy |
| Janet | Leasher | Nova Southeastern University, Florida, USA |
| Nicolas | Leveziel | University of Poitiers, France |
| Jennifer | Lim | University of Illinois, Urbana, USA |
| Hans | Limburg | Health Information Services, Grootebroek, Netherlands. |
| Kaweh | Mansouri | Clinique De Montchoisi, Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Alan | Morse | Jewish Guild Healthcare, New York, USA |
| Beatriz | Munoz | Wilmer Eye Institute John Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA |
| David | Musch | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA |
| Kovin | Naidoo | University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa |
| Vinay | Nangia | Suraj Eye Institute, Nagpur, India |
| Henry | Nkumbe | Cameroon- further details requested |
| Kolawole | Ogundimu | Sightsavers, UK |
| Maya | Pandova | Medical Group, Kuwait Oil Company |
| Maurizio Battaglia | Parodi | University Vita Salute, Ospedale San Raffaele, Milan, Italy |
| Fernando Yaacov | Pena | Fundacion Vision, Asuncion, Paraguay |
| Konrad | Pesudovs | School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia |
| Tunde | Peto | The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Harry | Quigley | Wilmer Eye Institute John Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA |
| Murugesan | Raju | University of Missouri, Columbia, USA |
| Pradeep | Ramulu | Wilmer Eye Institute John Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA |
| Serge | Resnikoff | Brien Holden Vision Institute, Sydney, Australia |
| Dana | Reza | Schepens Eye Research Inst./Mass Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA |
| Alan | Robin | Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA |
| Luca | Rossetti | University of Milan, Milan, Italy |
| Jinan | Saaddine | National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, USA |
| Mya | Sandar | Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore |
| Janet | Serle | Mt Sinai School of Medicine, New York, USA |
| Tueng | Shen | University of Washington, Seattle, USA |
| Rajesh | Shetty | Mayo Clinic, Minnesota, USA |
| Pamela | Sieving | National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, USA |
| Juan Carlos | Silva | Pan-American Health Organization, Columbia |
| Alex | Silvester | SpaMedica, UK |
| Rita S. | Sitorus | Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine University of Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia |
| Justine | Smith | Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia |
| Jaime | Soria-Viteri | Hospital Dr. Elías Santana, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic |
| Dwight | Stambolian | University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA |
| Nina | Tahhan | School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia |
| Hugh | Taylor | Centre for Eye Research Australia, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia |
| Jaime | Tejedor | Hospital Raman y Cajal, Madrid, Spain |
| James | Tielsch | Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA |
| Fotis | Topouzis | University of Thessaloniki, Greece |
| Miltiadis | Tsilimbaris | University of Crete Medical School, Heraklion, Greece |
| Rohit | Varma | Department of Ophthalmology for Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, USA |
| Gianni | Virgili | Department of Ophthalmology, University of Florence, Italy |
| Jimmy | Volmink | Faculty of Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, South Africa |
| Ya Xing | Wang | Capital Medical University, Beijing, China |
| Ning-Li | Wang | Eye Centre of Beijing Tongren Hospital, Beijing, China |
| Sheila | West | Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, USA |
| Peter | Wiedemann | Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany |
| Tien | Wong | University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia |
| Richard | Wormald | Moorfields Eye Hospital, London |
The following video shows the 2017 VLEG/NASA ‘Science on a Sphere’ installation at the ARVO research conference.