Research to Prevent Blindness Board of Trustees releases statement advocating for the protection of the National Eye Institute

(Image credit: AdobeStock/Paul Hakimata)

The Research to Prevent Blindness Board of Trustees released a statement on December 16, 2024, advocating for the protection of the National Eye Institute (NEI). In this statement, the board calls attention to a proposal by a committee in the US House of Representatives that would shrink the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) from 27 institutes into 15 institutes. In this reduction, the NEI would cease to exist, and the work on eye research and vision would fall to the general brain and neuroscience-focused institute.¹

According to statistics provided in the statement, Prevent Blindness says that the current (as of December 2024) amount spent per person in the US on research to save and restore vision is $2.25. The statement also notes that the estimated cost of eye disorders and vision loss for Americans will be $276 billion in 2025, with costs expected to continue rising over the ensuing decades.¹

The statement from the board¹ reads in part, “The NEI is the hub around which the entire US vision research community revolves.”

As a call to action in response to this proposal regarding these changes to the NEI, Prevent Blindness suggests completing a pre-populated form developed by the National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (NAEVR) that can be sent to representatives and senators expressing the value of funding eye and vision research through the NEI.¹

Read the full statement.

Reference:

1. A Statement from the Research to Prevent Blindness Board of Trustees: The Time is Now to Protect the National Eye Institute. Research to Prevent Blindness. December 16, 2024. Accessed December 18, 2024. https://www.newswise.com/articles/a-statement-from-the-research-to-prevent-blindness-board-of-trustees-the-time-is-now-to-protect-the-national-eye-institute