Prevent Blindness Awarded Grant From Allergan Foundation

Vision Monday reports that Prevent Blindness America (PBA) announced that it is the recipient of a grant from the Allergan Foundation, funding ongoing efforts of the “Prevent Blindness America Diabetic Eye Disease Educator Program,” which it launched with support from the Allergan Foundation in 2010. PBA added that funding for the second phase of the program will maximize the program’s outreach by developing a Spanish language version of the online program.

“The Allergan Foundation has been generous partner of [PBA] for many years, helping us to continue our mission to end preventable vision loss,” said Hugh R. Parry, PBA president and CEO. “Thanks to their generous support of our diabetes education program, we can help to provide those in communities across the country the tools they need to help protect their eyes from the terrible effects of diabetes.”

According to PBA, the program has a comprehensive eye health education agenda designed to teach outreach personnel and allied health professionals about the visual system and the signs, symptoms and complications of the secondary diseases of diabetes, namely diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma. “In addition, the program seeks to deliver patient education messages about diabetic eye disease through health outreach programs of community health centers, health departments and civic and faith-based organizations to those populations at highest risk for developing diabetes: African-Americans, Hispanics and Latinos,” the organization said.

For more information, visit www.preventblindness.org/diabetes.