FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information:
Whitney Anderson
Prevent Blindness
Phone: (800) 301-2020 ext. 105
E-mail: [email protected]
Prevent Blindness Delegation Heads to Washington to Advocate for Support for Programs, Research to Save Sight
Columbus, OH (July 6, 2016) Representatives from the Ohio Affiliate of Prevent Blindness will join delegates from across the country for the 11th annual Prevent Blindness “Eyes on Capitol Hill” advocacy day on Tuesday, July 12, 2016, in Washington, D.C. Rick Bunner (Zanesville), Mike D’Ippolito (Hilliard), Kathy Loken (Galena) and Sherry Williams (Bexley) will join citizens from across the United States will have the opportunity to meet with House and Senate members, and their staff, to discuss vision care issues.
“For more than a decade, Prevent Blindness has helped to provide those that have been deeply impacted by vision loss and vision issues an opportunity to discuss their experiences with our government representatives through our Eyes On Capitol Hill program,” said Sherry Williams, President and CEO of the Ohio Affiliate of Prevent Blindness. “We are proud to continue this effort to advocate for the importance of sight-saving programs and research.”
The Eyes on Capitol Hill meetings have been scheduled to specifically ask elected officials to:
- Provide $1,500,000 in Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 to strengthen vision and eye health efforts of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
- Provide at least $3,294,000 for the Glaucoma Project at CDC in FY 2017.
- Support the Maternal and Child Health Bureau’s (MCHB) National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health (the Center) in developing a public health infrastructure to promote and ensure a continuum of vision and eye health care for children.
- Provide $770 million to the National Eye Institute in FY 2017.
- Cosponsor HR 1312/S 898, the National Health Service Corps Improvement Act.
- Join theCongressional Vision Caucus.
The following day, July 13, all Eyes on Capitol Hill delegates will attend the fifth annual Focus on Eye Health National Summit at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
For more information on the Summit, Prevent Blindness and its advocacy initiatives, please call 800-301-2020 or visit pbohio.org.
About Prevent Blindness
Founded in 1908, Prevent Blindness is the nation’s leading volunteer eye health and safety organization dedicated to fighting blindness and saving sight. The Ohio Affiliate of Prevent Blindness is Ohio’s leading volunteer nonprofit public health organization dedicated to prevent blindness and preserve sight. We serve all 88 Ohio counties, providing direct services to more than 800,000 Ohioans annually and educating millions of consumers about what they can do to protect and preserve their precious gift of sight. For more information or to make a contribution, call 800-301-2020. Or, visit us on the web at www.pbohio.org or facebook.com/pbohio and Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/PB_Ohio.