Annual Event Allows Constituents to Meet with Policymakers to Help Promote Vision and Eye Health Programs and Funding

Prevent Blindness, the nation’s oldest non-profit eye health organization, will be holding its sixteenth annual “Eyes on Capitol Hill” advocacy event, held virtually this year, on Wed., Feb. 24 and Thurs., Feb. 25, 2021. The program brings together patients, caregivers, public health workers, and medical professionals with their elected officials to educate lawmakers and their staff on vision issues, including equitable access to quality eyecare, health disparities in the prevalence of vision disorders, and the importance of sight-saving research and surveillance.

The event also provides an important opportunity to reach out to newly elected members of Congress to introduce them to critical vision advocacy initiatives. As learned during the Coronavirus pandemic, many of the circumstances that surround vision loss and eye disease—such as age, presence of chronic disease, and health disparities—intersect with COVID-19 and its most serious consequences, underscoring the need for advocacy to ensure that public policy accounts for those who live with blinding eye diseases.