Save our Sight (SOS): a collective call-to-action for enhanced retinal care across health systems in high income countries

With a growing aging population, the prevalence of age-related eye disease and associated eye care is expected to increase. The anticipated growth in demand, coupled with recent medical advances that have transformed eye care for people living with retinal diseases, particularly neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and diabetic eye disease, has presented an opportunity for health systems to proactively manage the expected burden of these diseases. 

Through a multi-modal approach, Shift Health gathered unbiased perspectives from clinical experts and patient advocates from eight high-income countries, substantiated perspectives with evidence from the published literature and validated findings with the broader eye care community, to expose capacity challenges that are motivating the community to take action and advocate for change. Co-authors proposed a collective call-to-action for the future management of retinal diseases and sustainable strategies to achieve better health outcomes for individuals at-risk of, or living with, retinal disease.

We thank our international group of co-authors for their valuable insight and contribution to this work:

• Prof. Anat Loewenstein (Tel-Aviv, Israel) 
• Dr. Alan Berger (Toronto, Canada)
• Avril Daly (Dublin, Ireland)
• Prof. Catherine Creuzot-Garcher (Dijon, France)
• Prof. Richard Gale (York, UK)
• Prof. Federico Ricci (Rome, Italy)
• Dr. Javier Zarranz-Ventura (Barcelona, Spain)
• Prof. Robyn Guymer (Melbourne, Australia)

Read or download the publication in Eye: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41433-023-02540-w