ODs encouraged to attend APHA annual meeting
October 16, 2012With 30,000 members and a 138-year history, the American Public Health Association (APHA) is one of the nation’s largest and most respected health care advocates — and, increasingly, an important proponent of access to eye and vision care through optometric practices. Over the past three decades, the APHA has adopted 25 major eye care resolutions and position statements developed by its Vision Care Section — virtually all of which have served to increase access to optometrists’ services.
The APHA meets Oct. 28-30 in San Francisco. In recent years, APHA leadership has included Edwin Marshall, O.D., MPH, (vice president) and Mel Shipp, O.D., the current president. This year’s meeting will include the APHA President’s Reception hosted by Dr. Shipp, and the topic of the APHA President’s Session will be “Collaborating for a Quality Life-Span through Vision.”
Other presentations at the meeting will include:
- Public Health Surveillance of Vision Health
- Translating Ocular Research into Community Health
- Children’s Vision and Eye Care Needs
- Economic Burden and Cost-effectiveness Analysis in Vision and Eye Care
- The Right to Sight: A Global Perspective
- Barriers and Facilitators to Access to Eye Care
- Preventing Vision Loss and Promoting Eye Health across the Lifespan
Last year, the APHA Governing Council passed into APHA policy a series of VCS-sponsored resolutions. These included “Reducing Barriers and Increasing Access to Children’s Vision Care Services,” “Global Campaign to Eliminate Avoidable Blindness,” and “Preventing Injuries by Banning Consumer Use of Fireworks.”
To learn more, visit http://www.apha.org/membergroups/sections/aphasections/vision/.
