On Wednesday, July 15th, 2020, Prevent Blindness will host the 9th Annual Focus on Eye Health National Summit as a virtual event. (Due to the current COVID-19 health crisis, this year’s event will be held as an online event only.)

The Focus on Eye Health National Summit has become a key annual event to elevate the national dialogue among diverse stakeholder groups around vision and significant public health issues such as equity, surveillance, access, prevention, service integration, and program development. The Summit allows its participants to develop new collaborations, integrate new vision health messages and procedures into their outreach, disseminate evidence-based best practices to support eye health, and improve lines of communication with internal and external partners. Our virtual event will offer these same opportunities through a unique, interactive platform.

2020 Agenda: The Summit will include a variety of presentations related to this year’s theme, “An Eye to the Future.” The agenda will recognize the importance of the year 2020 for vision – and look beyond this moment to the technologies, treatments, social impacts, and policies that will shape vision health in America in the coming decades.

The Focus on Eye Health National Summit welcomes a diverse range of participants, including patient advocates, community-based organizations, national vision and eye health organizations, health-care providers, senior- and child care professionals, government agency staff, legislative staff, and more.

More information and registration at: https://eyesummit.vfairs.com.

The National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health at Prevent Blindness partnered with the National Head Start Association to create an online resource – Small Steps for Big Vision: An Eye Health Information Tool Kit for Parents and Caregivers – to provide parents and caregivers with the information, suggested actions, and assistance they need to be empowered partners in their children’s vision and eye health, and to care for their own vision and eye health.

It is our hope that the online tool kit will be used by Head Start and Early Head Start programs, as well as any early childhood education and care program.

Save the date for October 20, 2020, at 3pm EST for the launch. Details at the National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health: https://nationalcenter.preventblindness.org/small-steps-for-big-vision/