4 days ago
The Parliamentary Friends for Eye Health and Vision Care
The Geographic Atrophy Case for Action Report, We Can’t Wait and See, was officially launched at Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday 11 September 2024. The event was hosted by The Parliamentary Friends for Eye Health and Vision Care, led by Co-chairs Ms Meryl Swanson MP (as pictured on the right) and Dr David Gillespie MP.
Australia-first report on the true cost of GA
The report is an Australian-first report into the true cost of vision loss due to geographic atrophy (GA), with both financial and social costs identified, along with key recommendations to improve the lives of Australians living with this debilitating and irreversible disease.
Member Advisory Committee
Retina Australia was a member of the Advisory Committee for the development of the report, along with other leading organisations in the eye heath and vision care sector – Macular Disease Foundation Australia (MDFA), Optometry Australia, Sight For All, Vision Australia and Vision 2020 Australia. The study was conducted by HTANALYSTS, report prepared by Crash Bang Wallop, and sponsored by Apellis Australia.
Representatives from the report Sponsor, members of the Advisory Committee with Members of Parliament. From left: Dr Amanda-Jane Ruth – Apellis, Ms Libby Croker MP, Dr Kathy Chapman – MDFA, Dr David Gillespie MP, Ms Meryl Swanson MP, Chris Edwards accompanied by Eva (guide dog) – Vision Australia, Judy Hatswell – Sight For All, Julia Hall – Retina Australia, Carly Iles – Vision 202 Australia
Key Report Highlights
Australia’s ageing population makes it essential to address vision loss, which has a social and economic cost. The financial burden of GA-related vision loss in Australia exceeds $1.8 billion annually, including healthcare and wellbeing costs. Investing in interventions to delay vision loss offers a substantial social return on investment (SROI), with $2.21 of social value created for every $1 invested.
Key recommendations include:
- Equitably funding vision support services for older Australians to maintain independence and quality of life.
- Raising awareness of GA and the importance of early detection through a national campaign.
- Providing public funding for Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) imaging to detect and monitor GA.
- Creating a national AMD registry to track the true burden of GA.
- Securing dedicated research funding to better understand and treat GA.
- Ensuring timely access to new GA therapies once approved to prevent further vision deterioration.
Read more about the Report
The recommendations highlighted in the Geographic Atrophy Case for Action Report are essential to reduce the social, emotional, and economic burden of vision loss in the elderly population.
To read more about the study, including access to download the full report, click here.
https://retinaaustralia.com.au/launch-of-the-geographic-atrophy-case-for-action-report/
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