Expanding research

The European Alliance for Vision Research and Ophthalmology (EU EYE) is an advocacy group launched in 2015. Its purpose is to raise political and societal awareness of the need for research in vision and ophthalmology on a European level. Its members include the European Association for The Study of Diabetes Eye Complications Study Group, the European Eye Bank Association, the European Glaucoma Society, the European Paediatric Ophthalmology Society, the ESCRS, EuCornea, EURETINA, the European Association for Vision and Eye Research and the European Vision Institute. The Alliance believes that the political focus on preventing mortality as a desired health outcome creates a disease bias towards fatal diseases. This does not do justice to sufferers of sensory impairment and other non-fatal conditions who, although they do not die from their diseases, nevertheless experience an enormous impact on quality of life and well-being with high costs in health and social care. The main causes of preventable blindness in Europe are glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and cataract. The Alliance believes that current health policies do not sufficiently take into account the increasing burden of eye diseases and vision impairment on European societies due to an ageing population and the growing prevalence of chronic diseases in Europe. Only research on identifying cost-effective preventive measures and treatment protocols will address such a burden. PROACTIVE ENGAGEMENT At the helm of the ambitious proactive engagement of the EU EYE with the EU Institutions is its President Prof Einar Stefánsson. At the 17th EURETINA Congress in September 2017, Prof Stefánsson called on the ophthalmology community to work together and combine the interests of sub-specialty eye care societies to increase capacity to shape research directions and public health efforts in a complex political space. This year the EU EYE has focused its efforts on policy and legislation. A recent consultation regarding the Directive on Blood, Tissues and Cells gave the Alliance an opportunity to voice the concerns of its members involved with transplants. A follow-up report shows agreement on a need for further flexibility and for revised legislation in terms of current scientific and technological trends, the variety of different tissue sectors, as well the different levels of effort and risk for tissue donors. The Alliance has been involved in high-level meetings with the EU’s Expert Panel for Investment in Health regarding benchmarking access to healthcare and the Health Policy Platform on final priorities for Horizon2020, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. The EU EYE has also emerged as a supportive advocacy partner as indicated by its recent endorsement of the statements on medical training and employment for people with chronic diseases of the European Society of Radiology and the European Chronic Disease Alliance respectively. Believing that policy knowledge is key in successful proactive engagement with the EU institutions, the EU EYE has invested in dissemination tools (email alerts and a regular newsletter) for improving membership awareness on developments in EU policies and directions in research, training and public health. The EU EYE has welcomed: the recent strengthening of research in the area of sensory impairment in the Human Brain Project of the European Commission, a project that seeks to accelerate the fields of neuroscience, computing and brain-related medicine through strategic alignment of scientific research programmes and the construction of research Infrastructure; and the recent showcasing of EU funded projects for vision such as devices providing a sense of vision through acoustics and touch or potential treatments for X-linked retinitis pigmentosa (Nº 66, October 2017, research*eu, the monthly EU publication on thematic European research and innovation). Although such efforts show that there is some political attention being paid to vision impairment, the EU EYE believes that more can be done at prevention level. Plans for future EU EYE work therefore include promoting awareness across the EU regarding the value for a comprehensive strategy on diabetic eye screening, a key part of diabetes care. FUTURE SUCCESS Looking into 2018 the Alliance aims to bolster its reputation and legitimacy when making recommendations in key areas of health and research. Ongoing work is focusing on establishing regular communication with various EU institutions, and at present the organisation is mapping out its internal knowledge capacity with a view to matching individual interests with broader directions in health and research. The future success depends on the organisation being able to provide technical expertise of the highest quality expertise to various panels, often at short notice. Would you like to be involved in the efforts of the EU EYE? Anyone with interests in training, research, prevention, clinical care and public health in general is welcome please email: info@eueye.org

Tags: EU-EYE