40 million people live in the darkness of blindness throughout the world and over half of this blindness is preventable. Some of the world's children suffer in disproportionate numbers not only from the catastrophes of famine but also from nutritional blindness linked to lack of vitamin A. Here in the USA over 1 million Americans suffer from blindness or impaired vision and the poor and homeless suffer the highest rates. School children from disadvantaged communities do not always receive the eyeglasses, which could brighten their vision and enlighten their minds.
The AiPB was established in 1976 as a non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention of blindness through programs designed to PROTECT, PRESERVE, and RESTORE the Gift of Sight. We are founded on the principle that EYESIGHT IS A BASIC HUMAN RIGHT and that PRIMARY EYE CARE must be a component of Basic Health Services provided free if necessary for all humankind.
Eradication of all preventable blindness by the year 2020.
Insure all children have all visual needs met, including eyeglasses.
Assist blind children to achieve their best by special educational resources.
Establish the World Eye Institute for the research and treatment of blinding eye diseases, with clinic facilities open to the blind of all nations on an equal basis.
Community Ophthalmology was created and developed as a new discipline of medicine as a direct result of research conducted by AiPB directors. The Ophthalmic Assistant Training Program was established at major universities to educate and train support personnel in the fundamentals of primary eye care. In 2017, Dr. Bath’s role in the founding of Community Ophthalmology was recognized by MEDSCAPE as one of the "14 Women Physicians who changed the Course of American Medicine."
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American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness
