Profile of CCB/Eye Care Caribbean

Background

At the end of the Second World War, many veterans returned to their Commonwealth Countries and territories nursing injuries from the War. Many suffered permanent disabilities including blindness. Although war was by no means the main cause of blindness, the fact of several veterans returning home blind, helped focus public concern on the problem of blindness.

Establishment of National Programmes for the Visually Impaired.

During the late forties and fifties, several National Associations and Societies were formed to promote the interest of the blind and those at risk of becoming blind. In the Caribbean, this process received significant support from the UK-based Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind (now Sightsavers). Many of the Organizations were formed after visits by the late

Sir John Wilson,  the then Executive Director of the Organization and by the mid-1960(s), there were several National Organizations in operation.

In all, there were upwards of eleven National Organizations seeking to work with the Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind, to develop services for their clientele, while seeking to prevent blindness.

Sir John Wilson

Establishment of the Caribbean Council for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

In 1967, the various National Organizations (with financial and technical assistance from RCSB), now Sightsavers, formed themselves into the Caribbean Council for the Blind and Visually Impaired, [CCB]. This provided a focal point for regional discussions and some joint action. The original Constitution for CCB was approved on September 24th, 1967 in Trinidad and Tobago; and its revision approved on September 13th, 1980 in Grenada.

Establishment of a Secretariat

In 1978, the Council established a Secretariat to execute its day-to-day functions. The first Secretariat was headed by Kevin Carey and located in Trinidad and Tobago.

Two years later, (in 1980), the Secretariat was relocated to Antigua and Barbuda. A principal reason for the relocation of the Secretariat in Antigua and Barbuda was the Island's strategic position for travel across the Region, North America and Europe. With relocation to Antigua, CCB appointed its first regional Executive Director, Dr. Aubrey Webson, now a Director of Perkins International.

Kevin Carey

Dr. Aubrey Webson

From the outset, the Council's Programme emphasis included:

Blindness Prevention (since the late nineteen seventies – 1970’s – the CCB has been directly involved in the development and implementation of programmes designed to prevent blindness;

Education Services for children who are blind or visually impaired;

         Programme Context 

Rehabilitation and Vocational Services for adults who are blind or visually impaired;

Organization Development (Institution Building) for its Member Agencies. Contemporarily, all of these services are being deployed with increasing emphasis on: gender equity and poverty alleviation.

 The Inter-Island Eye ServiceDuring the late seventies and early eighties, the Council coordinated a Programme of Itinerant Ophthalmic Service to those islands, which did not have Resident Ophthalmologists. The programme provided annual visits by one or more Ophthalmologists for periods of six weeks to three months. The countries of the Eastern Caribbean, Belize, Guyana and the Turks and Caicos Islands, were the primary beneficiaries of this Service.

" " " " " " " " " " " "The Regional Training Programme for Eye Doctors

As the Inter –Island Eye Service was implemented, it became clear that the long-term solution was to facilitate the training of indigenous Ophthalmologists for the affected countries. In the early nineteen eighties, the Council (in association with The Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind, the University of the West Indies and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (Barbados), developed and implemented a Diploma in Ophthalmology for General Practitioners. When the programme concluded, Eye Doctors from the following countries/territories were trained: Belize, Grenada, Guyana, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and The Grenadines and The British Virgin Islands. With the exception of Guyana, the successful candidates served their countries for more than thirty (30) years each.

Establishment of National Prevention of Blindness Programmes

Having achieved the placement of at least one full-time Ophthalmologist in those countries, which could sustain at least one such professional, the Council turned its attention to the development of National Prevention of Blindness Programmes. Over the years,  several  National Committees were established and  National Plans developed. The Council drafted National Prevention of Blindness Plans for Belize and Grenada, and facilitated the drafting of Plans for: Guyana, Haiti, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and The Grenadines.

National Programmes, having been developed, were adopted by MOH(s) and (at least) partially implemented in the countries. In relation to Jamaica, although a National Committee has been meeting since 1982, advising the Ministry of Health on a range of matters relating to Eye Care, the Committee has not been able to formulate a Draft Plan. Currently, efforts are ongoing to develop Plans for: Antigua and Barbuda; Barbados, The Bahamas,  Dominica, Jamaica, St. Kitts/Nevis,  Suriname  and Trinidad and Tobago; and to revise the Plans which were developed earlier, in the other countries.

Integration of Eye Care in Primary Health Care

Although most countries/territories in the Caribbean have at least one practicing Ophthalmologist, Eye Care Services are still not available to the majority of persons living in the Region. Furthermore, (with limited exception), Ophthalmologists work, for the most part, in the Private Sector, concentrated in Urban Centres; and often only work part-time with Government. The Council believes that Primary Eye Care (featuring accelerated training and deployment of Refractionists and Optometrists) is a viable first step to giving the majority of the population access to quality eye health services. The more Refractionists and Optometrist there are, throughout the Caribbean, the more time Ophthalmologists will have to focus on the management and treatment of the main causes of preventable blindness across the region.

It has been decided that the Council should not retreat from this effort because the majority of persons living in the Caribbean are too poor to afford prescription glasses at commercial rates.Beginning in 1996, The Council commissioned a series of Studies to determine the “Availability, Accessibility and Affordability of Refractive Error Correction Services in the Caribbean”.  The results of these Studies are being used to present the case for more affordable care. So far, Studies have been undertaken in: Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St. Kitts/Nevis and St. Lucia.  

Launch of Vision 2020: The Right to Sight in the Caribbean               

Vision 2020: The Right to Sight, is a global partnership involving a number of International Eye Care Agencies, and led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) with the aim to reduce the main causes of avoidable blindness by the year 2020.  The initiative was launched in the Caribbean in July of 2000. For the region, the five (5) Vision 2020 priority diseases are: Cataract; Glaucoma; Diabetic Retinopathy; Conditions which cause blindness or

visual impairment in children; Refractive Error and Low Vision. The first Regional Strategy for the attainment of Vision 2020 Objectives in the Caribbean was developed by the Council (with technical assistance from PAHO/WHO). The Strategic Plan for Caribbean ran from 2003 to December 2008. The new Strategy, (2010 – 2014), which has evolved, is based on new National V2020 Plans, as approved by participating countries in the Caribbean

How We Work                                                                                                                                  

We believe that persons with blindness or visual impairments are entitled to some basic services and opportunities, wherever they live. Therefore, our entire advocacy seeks to assure the following:

Eye Health Services of: good quality, which is available, accessible,  affordable, and equitable;Inclusive Education Services which are (at least) on par with education opportunities available to children and adults without blindness or visual impairments;Viable employment; and where employment opportunities are not available, unemployment or pension benefits, at or better than the national minimum wage.A safe and physically secure environment.

We believe that a number of International Conventions and Initiatives, provide useful impetus to our cause. These include:

The Global Initiative to Reduce Avoidable Blindness and Visual Impairment by 2020;

The Education-For-All (EFA) Initiative;

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).

About CCB/Eye Care Caribbean         Since 1967, CCB has facilitated: Eye Health services to more

than one million persons across the Caribbean; helped more than a thousand children with blindness or visual impairment gain access to formal education and provided close to ten thousand adults who are blind, with training in adjustment to blindness techniques.

The Caribbean Council for the Blind [CCB], when it was initially established comprised of Societies/Associations of and for the Blind mainly from the English-speaking Caribbean. However, it now includes Societies and Associations from the Francophone Caribbean – Haiti, Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana.In 1998, the role of CCB was expanded with the establishment of a subsidiary, The Foundation for Eye Care in the Caribbean, [Eye Care Caribbean], Incorporated.

This Agency’s mandate includes responsibility for pursuing cost recovery ventures, which, in turn would provide additional resources for expansion and sustainability of Council's Programmes; hence, the appendage, CCB/Eye Care Caribbean.Eye Care Caribbean is currently represented in three (3) countries: Guyana (Eye Care Guyana); Jamaica (Eye Care Jamaica) and St. Lucia (Eye Care St. Lucia). It is anticipated that, over time, Eye Care Caribbean will expand to other countries in the region.