CHICAGO—Prevent Blindness, an eye health and safety nonprofit organization, has declared February as Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and Low Vision Awareness Month. According to the announcement, the organization is offering free educational resources about AMD, in addition to materials for low vision and low vision services. AMD is an eye disease that affects central vision and can manifest as either wet or dry AMD. AMD can lead to low vision, a visual impairment that cannot be corrected by prescription lenses, medication or surgery.

A recent study using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Vision and Eye Health Surveillance System (VEHSS) estimated that 19.83 million Americans were living with some form of AMD in 2019.

Prevent Blindness provides a variety of free educational resources to help educate the public, patients and their care partners, and allied health professionals. These resources include expert-approved fact sheets and social media graphics in English and Spanish, and dedicated web pages. The Prevent Blindness AMD GuideMe app allows patients and care partners to create and download a free, customized guide to AMD. The guide provides a disease overview along with a tailored resource list and suggested steps to help save sight from AMD.

Dedicated episodes in the Prevent Blindness Focus on Eye Health Expert Series are also available at no cost including:

  • “Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and Low Vision,” featuring W. Lloyd Clark, MD, Palmetto Retinal Center, and assistant clinical professor of ophthalmology at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine.

  • “Low Vision,” featuring R. Tracy Williams, OD, FAAO, executive director at Spectrios Institute for Low Vision, clinical professor of ophthalmology, Loyola University and adjunct professor, Illinois College of Optometry. Dr. Williams is also a former Prevent Blindness board of directors member.

  • “Vision Impairment and Mental Wellness,” with AMD patient Dr. Connie Hills, psychologist, consultant and speaker.


 
 To view the full fact sheet, click here.
Geographic Atrophy (GA), an advanced form of dry AMD, affects approximately 20 percent of all people with AMD, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Prevent Blindness provides resources that include a downloadable fact sheet and a series of shareable social media graphics in English and Spanish, and a dedicated webpage. These resources are supported by funding from Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. GA episodes in the Focus on Eye Health Expert Series include:

  • “Advancements in Treatments for Geographic Atrophy,” featuring Rajeev S. Ramchandran, MD, MBA, associate professor of ophthalmology, Flaum Eye Institute, University of Rochester Medical Center, and volunteer member of the Prevent Blindness Public Health and Policy Committee.

  • “Geographic Atrophy and Patient Support," featuring Sherry Williams, Prevent Blindness Ohio past president and CEO, sharing her story as a care partner for her mother who was diagnosed with GA.

  • “Geographic Atrophy,” featuring Janet S. Sunness, MD, medical director of the Richard E. Hoover Low Vision Rehabilitation Services at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center.
To view these and other videos, the public and ECPs are encouraged to subscribe to the Prevent Blindness YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@PreventBlindnessNational.


 To view the full fact sheet, click here. 
Prevent Blindness offers the comprehensive online resource, “Living Well With Low Vision.” The website provides a variety of content such as low vision resource directories, a self-help guide to non-visual skills, the ABCs of Caring for the visually impaired, a listing of vision rehabilitation resources for eyecare professionals, and more.

“The impact of retinal eye diseases, such as AMD and low vision, affects not only patients but their care partners and families as well,” said Jeff Todd, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness. “By providing trusted informative resources that help save sight from advancing eye disease and conditions like AMD, and by helping to connect patients to eyecare, and assisting those who are already experiencing vision loss, we continue our essential 117-year mission to serve as the patient’s partner in eye health.”

For more information on AMD, click here. For information on geographic atrophy, click here. To find out more about Living Well With Low Vision, or other general eye health information, click here.