Foreword

The health of people has always been a priority for the Chinese government. Eye health is an essential component of physical and mental health, concerning the whole life cycle and all age groups. Blindness and visual impairment severely affect people’s physical and mental health and quality of life, increase family and social burden, impose a negative impact on social and economic production activities, and thus constitute major public health and social issues. Under the people-centered development principle and with the aim of improving people’s health, the government established and has been persistently improving the eye health management system, technical guidance system and service system.

In 1999, the World Health Organization and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness jointly launched the "VISION 2020: The Right to Sight" global initiative, with the goal of eliminating avoidable blindness by 2020, including cataract, trachoma, onchocerciasis, childhood blindness, refractive error and low vision. In the same year, the Chinese government made the commitment to promote the initiative and started carrying out relevant work. Under the pattern of "led by government and participated by all parties", governments at all levels vigorously promoted the work of prevention and treatment of blindness and made continuous efforts to improve the national-provincial (autonomous region, municipality directly under the central government)-municipal level management system of prevention and treatment of blindness and county-township-village eye disease prevention and treatment network, thereby developing a working pattern more suited to the reality in China and effectively curbing the leading blinding eye diseases. In view of the high incidence of myopia among children and adolescents, the prevention and treatment of myopia were incorporated into the national strategy, and comprehensive prevention and treatment were implemented through multi-sectoral collaboration, creating a favorable social atmosphere of "leadership by government, cooperation among sectors, guidance by experts, education in school and commitment in family". Currently, the prevalence of active trachoma and trachomatous trichiasis in China is far lower than the elimination threshold set by the WHO and trachoma is no longer a public health issue in China. The cataract surgical rate in China has increased from 318 in 1999 to 2205 in 2017, achieving a 6-fold increase, and is expected to reach about 3000 in 2020. The cataract surgical coverage (CSC) reached 62.7% in 2014, and CSC has been more than 70% by 2020, which has been greatly improved compared with the past. In addition, in recent years, with the nationwide promotion of appropriate techniques, the blindness rate of acute angle-closure glaucoma has decreased from 50% in the 1990s to 14.5% in recent years, and the detection rate of open-angle glaucoma has increased from 10% to 40%. With the rapid advancement in ophthalmic healthcare, the enthusiasm of eye care personnel to participate in the prevention and treatment of eye diseases has been generally boosted. In addition, the eye care service capacity of county-level hospitals has been further improved. At present, about 90% of counties in China have ophthalmic institutions, of which about 90% can provide cataract surgery services independently. According to the survey, in 2014, the prevalence of blindness in the population over 50 years old decreased by 27% compared with 2006, and the prevalence of moderate and severe visual impairment decreased by 16% compared with 2006.

With population aging, rapid economic and social development, the change of people’s life style and the increased pressure due to intense social competition, age-related eye diseases and metabolism-related eye diseases are becoming a prominent issue and the major blinding eye diseases in China. What’s more, due to the prolongation of life expectancy, the growth of population, the acceleration of population aging, and enhanced demand for eye health, the prevention and treatment of eye diseases in China remains a challenging task, the eye care service capacity at the primary level still needs to be strengthened, and the eye health awareness should be further improved among the public.

With 2020 being the final year of the VISION 2020 initiative, under the support of the Bureau of Medical Administration of the National Health Commission, the National Committee for the Prevention of Blindness developed and launched the Vision 2020：Eye Health in China, aiming to comprehensively introduce the current eye health situation in China, as well as the efforts and achievements made under the VISION 2020 initiative.

Ningli Wang

2020.2