Resources & Best Practices

BPRAG exists to help Rotary clubs and districts turn good intentions into effective, evidence-based eye care projects. This page brings together the data, planning tools, and best-practice guidance organizations have developed – so your club doesn’t have to start from scratch.

Understanding the Problem

Globally, at least 2.2 billion people have a near or distance vision impairment. For at least 1 billion of them, it could have been prevented or has yet to be addressed (WHO, 2026). The leading causes are cataract (94 million cases), uncorrected refractive error (88.4 million), age-related macular degeneration (8 million), glaucoma (7.7 million), and diabetic retinopathy (3.9 million). Two out of three people in low-income countries who need eyeglasses do not have access to them, and one in two people who need cataract surgery cannot get it. The gap is the sharpest where it matters the most: ophthalmologist density ranges from 76 per million people in high-income countries down to just 4 per million in low-income countries.

Full WHO fact sheet: int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/blindness-and-visual-impairment
IAPB Vision Atlas (interactive global/regional data): iapb.org

Toolkits for Eye Camps & Vision Screening

• Primary Eye Care Training Manual — practical guidance for delivering primary eye care, including the WHO Vision and Eye Screening Implementation Handbook (VESIH) for running community and primary-care vision screenings.
• Guidelines for Eye Health Committees — good-practice guidance for setting up a local eye health coordination committee before running a project.

School Eye Health

• IAPB School Eye Health Guidelines (2024) — standardized guidance for planning and running school eye health programs, with operational planning tools and resource self-assessments. Useful for clubs wanting to run a school screening project.

Full Resource Library

• IAPB Knowledge Hub — the parent hub bringing together evidence, guides, and member experience across global eye health.
• IAPB Resource Library — filterable by topic: cataract, childhood blindness, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, low vision, myopia, uncorrected refractive error, trachoma.

Awareness & Advocacy

World Sight Day is observed annually as a global advocacy event for eye health (WHO). BPRAG encourages clubs and districts to mark the day with a local awareness or screening activity.