Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 12, 2016 		CONTACT: James F. Jorkasky
Executive Director
240-221-2905
jamesj@eyeresearch.org

NAEVR TO TRUMP TRANSITION TEAM: VISION HEALTH CRITICAL TO CAMPAIGN THEMES OF PRODUCTIVITY, INDEPENDENCE, AND QUALITY OF LIFE

(Washington, D.C.) Today, NAEVR sent a letter to President-elect Donald Trump’s Transition Team that urged support for vision research funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by highlighting the leading role that the United States plays in vision research, as well as its role in training the next generation of vision scientists. The letter also:

  • Emphasized that Americans across all racial and ethnic lines describe losing vision as potentially having the greatest impact on their life, as reported in the August 4, 2016, JAMA Ophthalmology publication based on the Alliance for Eye and Vision Research’s (AEVR) September 2014 survey The Public’s Attitudes about the Health and Economic Impact of Vision Loss and Eye Disease.

  • Highlighted the September 2016 report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s (NASEM) Health and Medicine Division (formerly known as the Institute of Medicine, IOM), which included nine recommendations regarding a national strategy for vision loss prevention—several of which make a call for government action, especially by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) that would directly engage the NEI.

  • Cited the successful commercialization of products to save sight and restore vision that have emerged from NIH/NEI funded research, especially Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) used to diagnose and monitor eye disease progression as well as to monitor the effect of drug therapies.
NAEVR Executive Director James Jorkasky concluded by stating that:
“Our nation’s investment in vision health is an investment in its overall health. NEI’s breakthrough research is a cost-effective investment, since it is leading to treatments and therapies that can ultimately delay, save, and prevent health expenditures.”
The National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (NAEVR) is a 501(c)4 non-profit advocacy coalition comprised of 55 professional, consumer, and industry organizations involved in eye and vision research. Visit the Web site at www.eyeresearch.org.