Strengthening the collection and use of health information to promote equity in eye health

In many settings, there has been insufficient information to understand the nature and extent of inequalities in eye health, and whether services are effective at reducing them. This lack of information restricts our ability to plan appropriate strategies to reduce inequality, and to track progress towards equitable eye health. In this theme of our research, we aim to develop, test and promote ways of measuring and monitoring inequality in eye health research, service delivery and policy development.

Much of our research in this area is in collaboration with the Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness, a survey methodology which contributes the majority of estimates for global sight loss magnitude. For instance, we have assessed which socioeconomic indicators are best for inclusion within population surveys and looked at whether underserved groups are currently included within them.

Long-term we envisage a future where data on underserved groups is included comprehensively in all activities to collect population eye health information.

Publications

Goodman L, Reis T, Zhang JH, Yusufu M, Turnbull PR, Silwal P, et al. Underserved groups could be better considered within population-based eye health surveys: a methodological study. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology [Internet]. 2024 Jun 27;173:111444. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2024.111444

McCormick I, Kim MJ, Hydara A, et al. Socioeconomic position and eye health outcomes: identifying inequality in rapid population-based surveys. BMJ Open. March 2023. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-069325

Ramke J, Mwangi N, Burn H, Habtamu E, Gilbert C. Realizing the potential of routinely collected data for monitoring eye health services to help achieve universal health coverage. IHOPE J Ophthalmol. July 2022. https://doi.org/10.25259/IHOPEJO_2_2021

Evans J, Mwangi N, Burn H, Ramke J. Equity was rarely considered in Cochrane Eyes and Vision systematic reviews and primary studies on cataract. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. May 2020. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32389807/

Bondok M, Dewidar O, Al-Ani A, Selvakumar R, Ing E, Ramke J, et al. Inequities in glaucoma research: an analysis of Cochrane systematic reviews and randomized trials. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. February 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2025.111717