EYE CARE FOR REFUGEES, THE DISPLACED DISCUSSED
AT UH
College of Optometry Alum and Activist, Jerry Vincent, Shares International
Experiences
Bringing his experiences with international relief agencies back
home to the University of Houston, Jerry E. Vincent, O.D., M.P.H.,
will give two lectures at noon and 5:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 11.
Vincent, a 1984 UH College of Optometry alum, has lived and worked
abroad for many years and will give presentations on his international
eye care studies and efforts from the past decade. The presentation
at noon will be on “Public Health Approaches to Providing
Eye Care in the Context of the Vision 2020 Initiative.” The
5:30 p.m. presentation will focus on “Eye Care in Refugees,
Displaced and War Affected Populations – Lessons Learned and
Unmet Needs.” Both lectures will be given in room 2300 of
the J. Davis Armistead Building.
Vincent worked abroad for several years in Latin America, Africa,
the Caribbean and Asia, providing optometric services, developing
blindness prevention programs, conducting training programs and
embarking on numerous research projects. He also has consulted with
various international relief agencies in assessing and evaluating
current eye programs. According to the Avoidable Blindness Task
Force put together by the Rotary International and One World Sight
Project, while international relief agencies provide health and
other services to refugees and the displaced, they rarely include
eye care.
During the course of the last decade, Vincent has been working
in Thailand and neighboring countries to provide primary eye care
to refugees and displaced persons. Through these efforts, he founded
the Burma Border Eye Program that extends access to eye care for
thousands of refugees and displaced people along the Thai-Burma
border. Through the program, about 20,000 pairs of eyeglasses have
been prescribed, trachoma infections and vitamin A deficiencies
have been significantly suppressed, more than 1,000 cataract surgeries
have been carried out by volunteer surgical teams and many eye health
educational messages have been relayed to refugee camp residents
in hopes of increasing awareness, resulting in a decline in the
number of eye health problems. Vincent also serves on the board
of editors of the Thai Journal of Public Health Ophthalmology.
WHO: |
Jerry E. Vincent, optometrist for underserved international
populations |
WHAT: |
Lectures on International Eye Care “Public Health
Approaches to Providing Eye Care in the Context of the Vision
2020 Initiative” “Eye Care in Refugees, Displaced
and War Affected Populations – Lessons Learned and Unmet
Needs” |
WHEN: |
Noon and 5:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 11 |
WHERE: |
University of Houston College of Optometry
J. Davis Armistead Building, Room 2300
Entrance 2, off Calhoun Boulevard |
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