Fred Hollows Foundation and International Diabetes Federation to tackle diabetic blindness

The Fred Hollows Foundation has signed up to a 10-year partnership with the International Diabetes Federation to tackle a complication of the disease that can lead to blindness. The agreement was announced just days before the start of the World Diabetes Congress in Melbourne, to be attended by over 10,000 delegates and 400 exhibitors from 2-6 December.

With diabetes, fluctuating blood sugar levels can damage the retina, causing blurred or distorted vision and eventually blindness if left untreated - a condition called diabetic retinopathy. This is already the main cause of blindness among working-age adults worldwide, and Fred Hollows CEO Brian Doolan claims it could become the leading cause of blindness by 2035.

“Urgent action is needed to help people avoid blindness from diabetic retinopathy through access to a sight-saving eye examination once a year,” said Doolan. “Unless we do the groundwork now, four out of five of those people won’t have access to adequate eye care services.”

The new alliance will embed eyecare as part of general healthcare for people living with diabetes and work towards new global guidelines on treatment. The partnership will also collaborate on rolling out diabetes programs in a range of developing countries that are expected to include mass screenings.

It will invest in low-cost treatment services to address diabetic retinopathy and contribute towards building a skilled workforce to provide good quality care in all aspects of screening, treatment and management of the condition.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has welcomed the alliance and says the federal government will play its part fighting the disease and its consequences.

“The government has plans to support the development of a new National Diabetes Strategy,” he said. “This will inform how existing health resources can be better coordinated to address one of the most serious health challenges facing our country and our world,” he said.

Some 1.3 million Australians currently have diabetes. Of these, 300,000 have diabetic retinopathy and more than half will have suffered some form of vision impairment.

“While we are daunted by the size of the task before us, we are excited by the opportunity of working with the federation to make sure people with diabetes do not suffer unnecessary blindness,” said Doolan.