(L to R) Former Rep. John
Tierney, Prevent Blindness CEO Hugh Parry and former Rep. Phil Gingrey attended the Prevent Blindness Focus on Eye Health National Summit.
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Prevent Blindness, the nation’s oldest volunteer eye health and safety organization, held its sixth annual Focus on Eye Health National Summit on June 28 in Washington, D.C. The Summit included a variety of presentations related to this year’s theme, “What’s in Sight?”

Jeff Todd, COO of Prevent Blindness, told VMail, "It is our hope that this Summit

Cyrus Habib, Lieutenant Governor of Washington State, served as a keynote speaker at the Prevent Blindness Focus on Eye Health National Summit.
enhances the much needed dialogue around this public health problem that is costing our nation $145 billion (and growing), not to mention the enormous toll on individual health. This year's Summit explored vision through some of the key themes related to public health, including health promotion, the role of data and health policy. Our dynamic roster of speakers (including a Lt. Governor, two former members of Congress and the former head of vision care for the World Health Organization) represented local, federal and global viewpoints.”

During the Summit, the 2017 Jenny Pomeroy Award for Excellence in Vision and Public Health was presented to John E. Crews, DPA, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for his work as a champion of vision and eye health. The award is presented annually to an individual, team, or organization that has made significant contributions to the advancement of public health related to vision and eye health at the community, state, national and/or international level.


(L to R) Bruce Moore, OD, New England College of Optometry, presents John E. Crews, recently retired from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with the Prevent Blindness Jenny Pomeroy Award for Excellence in Vision and Public Health.
Sponsors of the Focus on Eye Health National Summit included gold-level sponsors Allergan, Genentech, Lighthouse Guild International, National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health, NORC at the University of Chicago and The Vision Council. Silver-level sponsors were Alliance for Aging Research, Alliance for Eye and Vision Research, American Academy of Ophthalmology, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), BrightFocus Foundation, The EyeSight Foundation of Alabama, The Foundation Fighting Blindness, International Retinal Research Foundation, Inc., Lions Clubs International, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, Regeneron, Research to Prevent Blindness, Vision 2020 USA and Vision Impact Institute.

For more information about the 2017 Prevent Blindness Focus on Eye Health National Summit, visit www.preventblindness.org/eyesummit. To see PDF copies of all the presentations, click here.