Eye disease, vision health and blindness news, resources and funding for global health researchers

Eye diseases are prevalent around the world. No area is free from blindness, although most blindness occurs in developing countries, where treatable diseases often go undiagnosed. What's more, up to 80 percent of blindness is preventable.

To help combat visual impairment and eye disease globally, as well as in the U.S., the National Eye Institute (NEI) at the NIH supports a wide range of research studies. Through its activities in international research and global health, NEI aims to develop scientific capacity in the U.S. through training and mentoring to meet global health challenges and support vision research in the future.

Related Fogarty News and Information

• Virtual Event: Global Health and Innovation Conference
  Presented by Unite for Sight
  April 21–22, 2022
  
• Profile: First Fogarty ophthalmology Fellow Dr Fran Wu studies rare pediatric cancer in Ethiopia
  Sep/Oct 2018 Global Health Matters
• US-India joint effort targets genes and traits to improve glaucoma screening, prevention and treatment
  NEI/NIH news, September 29, 2016
• NEI team in Liberia investigates ocular effects among Ebola survivors
  NEI/NIH news, September 8, 2015
• Focus on the National Eye Institute (NEI)
  Nov / Dec 2012 Global Health Matters
• Battling global blindness, eye disease through research
• Research shows the path toward trachoma elimination
• Background: Blindness from trachoma and trichiasis
• Vision research leads to new theories on brain plasticity
• Turmeric may treat eye disease
• Profile: Fogarty Fellow Dr Oluwatoyin F Fafowora researches inherited childhood glaucoma in Nigeria
• Q and A: Dr John Prakash, Associate Director, NEI Office of International Programs

NIH News and Resources

• National Eye Institute (NEI)
  • NEI Strategic Plan: Vision for the Future (2021-2025)
    
• NEI International Vision Research
  

Other Online Resources

• Fight for Sight - Provides grants to support eye and vision researchers
• Project Prakash - A nonprofit organization established in India to diagnose and treat people with curable blindness
• Unite for Sight - Supports eye clinics worldwide by investing human and financial resources in their social ventures to eliminate patient barriers to eye care.
• Vision 2020 - The global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness, a joint program of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB)
  
• World Health Organization (WHO): Blindness and visual impairment
  

Updated December 30, 2021