Urge Congress To Fund Vision Research And Give Millions Of Americans The Gift Of Sight

Prevent Blindness America
Monday, 18 June 2001

Schaumburg, IL - According to the National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (NAEVR), there are more than one million Americans today in the U.S. that are legally blind. By the year 2030, more than 66 million Americans will be at risk of developing a common eye disease. More than 120 million Americans wear corrective glasses or contact lenses and approximately 12 million Americans suffer from some form of irreversible visual impairment such as glaucoma or diabetic eye disease.

Vision loss robs people of their independence, mobility and quality of life and costs taxpayers an estimated $4 billion annually. Four common, age-related eye diseases - age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and cataracts, will account for a sharp increase in eye and vision disorders in the near future. As our population ages, these costs will increase and dramatically challenge our health care delivery system. Only through further advances in research will we gain a better understanding of vision disorders so that we can find cost-effective treatments and cures.

The scientific and technological capability now exists to make substantial progress in a number of age-related disorders, if an expanded research effort is supported. This research progress will only be possible if the National Eye Institute (NEI) has the resources necessary to pursue initiatives in key areas. Unfortunately, funding for the NEI has not kept pace with the funding growth seen by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a whole. NEI has a great track record for scientific discovery, not only for eyes, but also for the whole body. An increase in NEI's funding will allow an expansion of NEI extramural research partnerships and ensure that promising research opportunities are pursued.

As a result of the past investment in eye and vision research, researchers supported by the NEI are on the verge of many exciting discoveries. Some of the recent breakthroughs that would not have been possible without funding to the NEI are the Food and Drug Administration's approval in April of three new drugs to treat glaucoma. The three drugs, travoprost opthalmic solution 0.004% (Travatan, Alcon), bimatoprost opthalmic solution 0.03% (Lumigan, Allergan), and brimonidine opthalmic solution 0.15% (Alphagan P, Allergan) are alternative drugs that help treat elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) associated with glaucoma. Two to three million Americans suffer from glaucoma. Of those two to three million, as many as 120,000 have blindness as a result. Early treatment is crucial to stop the ravaging advances of this disease.

In one of the single most important advances in the history of retinal degeneration research, a group of scientists used gene therapy to restore vision in a canine model of severe childhood blindness, known clinically as Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA). LCA is the name given to a group of severe, early-onset forms of retinal degeneration, which tragically rob infants of their sight. This finding, published in the May 2001 issue of Nature Genetics, represents the first time researchers successfully restored vision in a large animal model of retinal degeneration. The first breakthrough came in 1997, when researchers discovered that mutations in the RPE65 gene cause a form of LCA.

When making tough decisions about how the government spends precious discretionary dollars, Prevent Blindness America (PBA) believes vision research is an absolute priority. PBA encourages you to write to members of Congress to urge them to support the NEI and help give millions of Americans the gift of sight. Visit the NAEVR web site at www.eyeresearch.org for more information on this issue.

For more information, or to contact Prevent Blindness America, see their website at: www.preventblindness.org