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NEWS ARCHIVE – UK visual impairment news, 2006/07
UK’s NICE changes tack on AMD treatment
December 14, 2007 -- In the face of strong criticism, NICE (the National Institute for Clinical Excellence) has agreed to make drug treatment for AMD (age-related macular degeneration) more widely available.
The Macular Disease Society described the announcement as “great news for patients who have recently developed wet AMD.”
Final details have yet to be agreed, but NICE is consulting on draft recommendations to make the drug Lucentis available on the NHS for people with wet AMD. Consultation on these recommendations began on 14 December 2007 and will end on 14 January 2008.
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Kids get cool on specs
November 2, 2007 -- Children who wear glasses are no longer the target for bullies. That’s the finding of research commissioned by The College of Optometrists. Over a third of kids (34%) under 16 say their friends never mention their glasses at all, while 43 per cent say their friends are positive about them, saying that they make them look clever, trendy, attractive and kind’.
The research shows a huge change for the better over the last few decades. Nearly two thirds of adults admit that children were teased or bullied for wearing glasses when they were at school. In contrast only five per cent of children under 16 say that they are bullied for the same reason, and only seven per cent are teased or told they look geeky.
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UK tax office makes website more accessible
September 28, 2007 -- HM Revenue & Customs is making it easier for visually impaired people to use its website. With some browsers it is already possible to enlarge text on a computer screen when viewing the site at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/.
“We are also making improvements to our online portal, which should enable more customers with visual impairments to use HMRC Online Services,” HMRC’s Michelle Blake told Eyesite. She added that these improvements will remove significant barriers to accessing web documents and allow visually impaired customers to use a screen reader or voice commands.
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VI children’s stories published in US
September 14, 2007 -- California based Vidi Press has published a book of stories for visually impaired children, their family and friends. The stories deal with albinism, childhood cataracts, myopia, nystagmus and strabismus in the context of school, teasing and sport.
Author Edie Glaser aimed the stories at children aged 4-8. The 46 page A4 format book – “All children have different eyes” -- includes a glossary plus a section on activities and social competence.
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Vision Strategy draft due soon
September 12, 2007 -- The first draft of the UK Vision Strategy is almost ready to be put out for consultation, RNIB chief executive Lesley-Anne Alexander told delegates at the Wales Eye Care Conference in Cardiff.
The draft strategy – the first of its kind – will cover four broad areas: awareness and prevention of visual impairment, treatment, independent living, empowerment and inclusion.
Alexander said the process to develop the strategy had got off to a good start, but was sorely needed “in a country where people are going blind when it could be prevented.”
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UK researchers make link between glaucoma and Alzheimer’s
August, 2007 -- Researchers at UCL Institute of Ophthalmology believe they may have discovered a link between glaucoma and Alzheimer’s in the form of the amyloid-beta protein. By targeting the protein, they hope to develop new avenues for treating glaucoma.
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Potter on your Ipod
August, 2007 -- Want to listen to the Harry Potter books on your Ipod for free? Now you can – and a whole lot more. Books in the Young Calibre Audio Library are now available on MP3 disks as well as audio cassettes. This means you can transfer Calibre digital books to Ipods or similar players.
Young Calibre is a FREE postal library service for young people with sight problems. It offers more than 1,000 specially recorded, unabridged titles, including audio books by best-selling authors Jacqueline Wilson, Anthony Horowitz, Lemony Snicket, Philip Pullman and Philip Ardagh.
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RNIB funds AMD legal action
July, 2007 -- In an unprecedented move, the RNIB is funding a legal case against Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust over the PCT’s policy on the treatment of wet AMD (age-related macular degeneration). The charity is supporting a case brought by 84-year-old Henley pensioner Dennis Devier, who suffers from the sight-threatening condition.
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NICE issues draft AMD drug guidance
June 14, 2007 -- The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued draft guidance on the use of Lucentis and Macugen for public consultation. The guidance recommends the use of Lucentis for only one in five of patients with wet age-related macular degeneration, a condition which causes sight loss and blindness.
Organisations representing visually impaired people have condemned the draft guidance. RNIB Head of Campaigns Steve Winyard said: "This preliminary guidance is worse than we ever imagined it could be. It is simply unacceptable that NICE is recommending that only a small minority of patients within England and Wales will benefit from these ground-breaking treatments. NICE must reconsider.”
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Moorfields pilots gene therapy
May 1, 2007 -- Moorfields Eye Hospital and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology have announced the first clinical trial to test a revolutionary gene treatment for blindness in children.
The gene therapy trial is the first of its kind and could have a significant impact on future treatments for eye disease. The trial involves adults and children who have a condition called Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA) -- a type of inherited retinal degeneration.
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Work starts on UK Vision Strategy
April 4, 2007 -- Nearly 400 people met in London to start developing a National Vision Strategy for the UK. RNIB chief executive Lesley-Anne Alexander said that the challenges were to identify areas for change and move forward together to make a difference.
The RNIB is leading the process, supported by Action for Blind People, NALSVI, Guide Dogs and many other organisations. Consultation will continue through to early 2008 with the strategy due to be launched in the spring.
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Action For AMD Treatment
March, 2007 -- The Macular Disease Society and the RNIB have launched a service to help anyone who is being blocked from getting Lucentis or Macugen to treat wet AMD through the NHS.
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Guide Dogs (GDBA) launches on-line teacher resource
March 2, 2007 -- Guide Dogs has launched its Citizenship Packs, an on-line education resources for teachers in nurseries, primary and secondary schools - and those schools teaching the Scottish curriculum at secondary level.
The packs encourage young people to empathise with those who are blind or partially sighted, value their own vision, gain a basic understanding of eye care, and understand the work of Guide Dogs.
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Guide Dogs (GDBA) launches rehab review
January 31, 2007 -- GDBA has launched a consultation into the future role of rehabilitation services for visually impaired adults. Guide Dogs says the initiative, on behalf of the visual impairment sector, is designed to increase the chances of blind and partially-sighted people achieving and maintaining independence and well-being.
Guide Dogs is managing the consultation on behalf of The Rehabilitation Project Group (RPG) – a body comprising representatives from across the voluntary, social care and health sectors.
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Ex-MP spear-heads AMD campaign
January 30, 2007 -- Recently retired MP Alice Mahon is pressuring the NHS to fund treatment for AMD -- the biggest cause of sight loss in the UK. Mahon, who was diagnosed with the condition less than two months ago, has already lost most of the sight in one eye.
A Private Members Bill tabled by Linda Riordan MP calls for the NHS to fund treatment for AMD. The Bill has its second reading next month. MPs also tabled an Early Day Motion calling for the treatment to be funded.
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Thousands needlessly lose sight from glaucoma
January 16, 2007 -- The Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) warns that thousands of people with glaucoma are losing their sight by not taking their medication.
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Research shows link between isolation and visual impairment
December 7, 2006 -- Research conducted by the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association (GDBA) confirms that many blind and partially sighted people face isolation and exclusion.
One-in-five blind and partially sighted people in the UK do not go out on their own, because they have not received appropriate training and support from social services. This is one of the findings of an interim report produced by Guide Dogs, assessing the needs and functionality of visually impaired people.
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Over 1,200 people lobby Parliament over DLA
December 4, 2006 -- Over 1,200 people lobbied Parliament calling for changes to Disability Living Allowance for visually impaired people.
The campaign is backed by leading charities and calls for the higher rate of the mobility component of DLA to be paid to blind people.
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Surrey launches VI and deafblind DVD
December 2006 -- Surrey Association for Visual Impairment (SAVI) has produced a DVD about Visual Impairment and Deafblindness. The DVD explains the different sorts of visual impairment and how best to assist a visually impaired or deafblind person.
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Publication of “Low Vision Manual” by Jonathan Jackson and James Wolffsohn
November 2006 -- This book, published by Elsevier, looks at ophthalmology for low vision, low vision assessment, low vision hardware and low vision rehabilitation.
Barbara Ryan of Cardiff University comments: “This book represents a real milestone for low vision care because it is one of the first low vision books in the world, and the first from the UK, that doesn’t just give lip service to multi-disciplinary collaboration – it has a multi-disciplinary authorship.”
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RNIB Northern Ireland and Blind Centre Northern Ireland to merge
November, 1 2006 -- The Blind Centre and RNIB Northern Ireland are to join together to form the largest organisation supporting blind and partially sighted people in Northern Ireland. The merger is due to be completed in April 2007.
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Leicester team discovers nystagmus gene
October 3, 2006 -- Researchers based in Leicester, England, have for the first time discovered the gene mutation for X-linked nystagmus. “It is a previously undiscovered gene and related proteins are probably involved in nerve growth in the retina and cerebellum,” Irene Gottlob, Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Leicester and leader of the research team, told the Nystagmus Network.
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© John Sanders, 2006-2007