FACT SHEET - EYE AND VISION HEALTH IN RURAL AUSTRALIA - Vision loss can impose significant costs

the shape of the eye prevents light from focusing clearly Risk factors include age, smoking and family history of on the retina (the layer at the back of the eye that receives AMD. [...] • The proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander The Australian Government Department of Health and Aged people who had an eye examination in the last 12 months Care funds Outreach Programsc to address the high need decreases with remoteness and is lowest in Very Remote for health services in certain areas, particularly in regional, areas. [...] undertaken to determine the prevalence and causes of Other eye health programs available for Aboriginal and blindness and visual impairment in Australia for both Torres Strait Islander people: Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. [...] • A number of organisations also provide varying degrees of funding, coordination and project support to enhance • The prevalence of vision loss in Indigenous Australians in access to eye health care in rural Australia. [...] not provided The Australian Government committed to eliminate trachoma as part of the 1996 WHO Alliance for the Global RANZCO Royal Australian and New Zealand Elimination of Trachoma by the year 2020.12 While the College of Ophthalmologists prevalence rate in children aged 5 to 9 years has declined from 14 per cent in 2009 to 3.3 per cent in 2021, the target RGs rural generalists of elimination by.