Volunteer Delegates Gather to Meet with Government Representatives, Advocate on Vision and Eye Health Issues
Prevent Blindness will be holding its twelfth annual “Eyes on Capitol Hill” advocacy day on Tuesday, June 27, 2017, in Washington, D.C. Since 2006, Prevent Blindness and its affiliates have brought citizens from across the country to meet with members of the House and Senate, and their staff, to discuss the importance of vision and eye health programs and research.
In 1908, Prevent Blindness was founded as a public health and advocacy group dedicated to healthy vision. From children’s vision issues, to workplace safety, to adult eye disease and more, the Prevent Blindness mission has been to save sight across the age spectrum for more than 100 years.
This year’s Eyes on Capitol Hill meetings have been scheduled to specifically ask elected officials to:
- Provide $3.3 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 to strengthen vision and eye health efforts of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
- Support the Maternal and Child Health Bureau’s (MCHB) National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health (the Center) in developing a public health infrastructure to promote and ensure a continuum of vision and eye health care for children.
- Protect “essential health benefits” as defined under the Affordable Care Act, which includes children’s comprehensive eye exams and vision screenings and preventive services for chronic diseases, in any Senate legislative companion to the House-passed American Health Care Act.
- Provide $800 million to the National Eye Institute in FY 2018.
- Provide at least $3,294,000 for the Glaucoma Project at CDC in FY 2018.
Delegates will also ask their representatives to join the Congressional Vision Caucus if they aren’t already members.
On June 28, all Eyes on Capitol Hill delegates will attend the sixth annual Focus on Eye Health National Summit at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
“We are proud to continue to work with members of government, through our Eyes on Capitol Hill event as well as other local and national advocacy efforts, to help protect the gift of sight and continue to bring Americans to quality, affordable eye care,” said Hugh R. Parry, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness.
For more information on Eyes on Capitol Hill or Prevent Blindness and its advocacy initiatives, please call (800) 331-2020 or visit http://www.preventblindness.org/eyes-capitol-hill-2017.
Download a copy of the 2017 Eyes On Capitol Hill press release.
