Ebook: South-East Asia Eye Health: Systems, Practices, and Challenges

The book covers all aspects of eye health in South-East Asia from public health to health system to education to industry in 6 sections. The World Health Organization (WHO) South-East Asia region comprises of 11 countries - Bangladesh, Bhutan, DPR Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste. This region is home to 26% of world population; there is a disproportionate amount of blindness (30.6%) and visual impairment (36%). This is a first of its kind book that discusses common conditions of visual impairment and blindness in the South-East Asia region. In addition, the book documents the current eye care industry in the region and the contribution of all eye health INGOs in eye care program planning and service delivery for many decades. Majority of the countries in the South-East Asia region are categorized in ‘middle-income country’ group. This book discusses the common challenges in these countries such as, suboptimal public expenditure in health, acute shortage of skilled eye health workforce, and rudimentary health industry.