Maureen Cavanagh
DALLAS—The Vision Impact Institute with the support of Essilor, renewed its commitment to advocate for more research on the socio-economic impact of poor vision. With evidence from over 100 research studies, the organization, which aims to help people around the world improve their quality of life through better vision, has expanded its platform to better gain support and showcase the importance of visual correction worldwide.

Under the new leadership of Maureen Cavanagh, the institute aims to increase attention to the cost of uncorrected refractive error which has an annual global cost of $272 billion, covering the Asian-Pacific, the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

“Over the last two years, the Vision Impact Institute has made great strides to rally key stakeholders in the vision, research and public health communities to amplify the message of the socio-economic cost of uncorrected refractive error,” said Cavanagh, president of the Vision Impact Institute.  

“We know there is work to do to bring greater awareness to the impact of this prevalent yet easily treatable eye condition. Our mission in 2015 includes a continued focus on collecting existing data and supporting new research on these global and regional socio-economic effects while also emphasizing the benefits of healthy vision and ensuring this compelling evidence gets in the right hands to support a call to action.”

Studies that will soon be published focus on research from around the world that highlight both poverty’s impact on vision and vision’s impact on poverty. Included as well are a series of systematic literature reviews on the effect of uncorrected refractive error in children, adults, drivers and the elderly.

In an effort to connect people both to more evidence and to each other, the Vision Impact Institute will launch a revamped website this April. The site features an optimized design for mobile and allows visitors to engage with the Vision Impact Institute.

Quarterly newsletters, a monthly blog and links to their social media accounts provide visitors with ways to get the most updated information. In addition, visitors will have the opportunity to submit their own ideas, research or requests for additional evidence and download stats and infographics.