Development of the 7th Generation of the Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness (RAAB7)

RAAB is a rapid survey methodology that has been used to complete over 300 surveys of vision impairment and blindness to date. RAAB7 is a multi-year project together with Peek Vision (2018 – present) to deliver the 7th generation of the methodology.

Key new data inputs built into RAAB7 include uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) measurements to calculate effective refractive error coverage (eREC), effective cataract surgical coverage (eCSC) and a disability module . Further research on enhancing data collection around near vision, other equity domains and specific eye health conditions is ongoing.

RAAB7 was launched in 2021 and a new RAAB site and repository is available at: www.raab.world

For more information on early access to RAAB7, or to join a mailing list and receive RAAB7 updates, please contact raab_team@lshtm.ac.uk

Acknowledgements and funding

RAAB7 development has been funded to date by the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Trust and Peek Vision.

Associated materials

See our RAAB pages for more information.

Publications 

  • McCormick I, Kim MJ, Hydara A, et al. Socioeconomic position and eye health outcomes: identifying inequality in rapid population-based surveys.
  • McCormick, I., Mactaggart, I., Bastawrous, A., Burton, M. J., & Ramke, J. (2020). Effective refractive error coverage: an eye health indicator to measure progress towards universal health coverage. Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics40(1), 1. Access
  • Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness: looking back, looking forward. Mactaggart, I., Limburg, H., Bastawrous, A., Burton, M.J. and Kuper, H., 2019. British Journal of Ophthalmology, 103(11), pp.1549-1552. Access
  • Rapid assessment of avoidable blindness for health service planning.Mactaggart, Islay, Sarah Wallace, Jacqueline Ramke, Matthew Burton, Andrew Bastawrous, Hans Limburg, Muhammad Babar Qureshi, Allen Foster, and Hannah Kuper. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 96, no. 10 (2018): 726. Access

Team 

  • Principal Investigator: Dr. Islay Mactaggart, Assistant Professor, ICEH
  • Co-Principal Investigators: Prof. Matthew Burton, Professor, ICEH
  • Dr. Andrew Bastawrous, Associate Professor, ICEH
  • Co-investigators: Ian McCormick, Research Fellow ICEH
  • Dr. Jacqueline Ramke, Associate Professor, ICEH