The scientific meeting of Vision 2020 Project was held in the Islamic Republic of Iran on Sunday, the THERAN TIMES report from this meeting follows: Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian, health minister said Iran ranks sixteen among the largest countries of the world. Iran has a population of about 65,000,000 at present, with an average density of 30 persons in a square kilometer. Like many other countries, our country is on the way of an epidemiological transition of diseases.

Within the past 2-3 decades, due to our colleagues' dedicated efforts all over the country, from rural health workers (behvarz) to our very high educated doctors in special hospitals, many communicable diseases have been declined or eradicated.

However, the pattern of diseases has changed.

Urbanization, industrialization and motorization have improved, and we are now faced to a new list of diseases which claim a new approach of preventing programs. For instance, in Iran, in the year 2001, about 37,000 deaths occurred as a result of diabetes, and the mortality rate of cardiovascular diseases is about 13.9 per 10,000, or 35 percent of all deaths.

Vision Problems in Iran Due to a general national population survey on health and disease status, there are about 2.4% to 3.1% amblyopia, and 25% to 28% refractive error in Iran. Some studies show that cataract, glaucoma, refractive error, amblyopia, diabetic retinopathy, and ARMD are the main causes of blindness and low vision in our country. The prevalence rate of congenital cataract is: 4.88 per10,000 new born.

Of all eye surgeries in the country, cataract, glaucoma, strabismus, vitreous and retina are more common operations.

According to available data among over forty-year-olds, the prevalence of cataract is 30.5% and gaucoma is 1.45%. There is a significant variation between these figures and visited patients by Iranian ophthalmologists.

Ophthalmologic Services There are about 1,420 ophthalmologists and 1,230 optometrists in Iran, that is about 20 opthalmologists and 18 optometrists for every one million population.

There are about 131 eye clinics and 306 eye-operation rooms throughout the country. There is also an annually national eye, and ear screening program for all children aged 3 to 6 years with a full medical visit follow-up.

Future Plans and Ideas We plan to carry out a national population-based survey on prevalence rate and main causes of low vision and blindness. International funding assistance will be a key point to do this job. We are ready to participate in any regional or global research projects that are going to be executed, and our colleagues and experts may participate in any educational program on control and prevention of eye diseases, nationally and internationally.

Our ophthalmologists may operate eye surgeries in any developing country in the world, he added.

In part of his speech addressed to the meeting, Dr. Hussin A. Gezairy, regional director of Eastern Mediterranean WHO said: "Unfortunately, there are currently an estimated 50 million blind people and 180 million people with visual impairment worldwide. Two-thirds of these conditions are either preventable or curable. If we do not act now, these figures will double within the next 25 years.

In the Eastern Mediterranean region an estimated 6 million people are blind and over 20 million people suffer from visual impairment. Among these, four and half million people, or around 80% of the blind population, live in nine countries, mainly with large population, low income and relatively weak healthcare infrastructures.

Vision 2020 Project aims at intensifying and accelerating the current activities for prevention of blindness, to achieve the goal of eliminating avoidable blindness by 2020. Five conditions have been identified as immediate priorities within the framework of Vision 2020: Cataract, trachoma, onchocerciasis, childhood blindness, and refractive errors and low vision.

Prince Abdul Aziz bin Abdul-Aziz al-Saud, chairman of International Agency for Prevention of Blindness, said: We can help eradicate blindness by joint efforts.

Also a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on eye health was signed on Sunday by the Iranian health minister and WHO representative and an international nongovernmental organization (NGO).