Charles Kenny's Foreign Policy column on improving vision in the developing world was featured in The Washington Post's Think Tanked blog.
From the Article
Finding cures isn’t the primary obstacle for global health, delivering them is, says New America Foundation and Center for Global Development scholar Charles Kenny.
In a new article at Foreign Policy, Kenny points to advancements in eyeglasses as an example of how health can be better delivered and have a severe impact on poorer countries.
World Health Organization figures indicate that about 150 million people who need glasses are without them. Only about 5 percent of people with poor sight have glasses in sub-Saharan Africa. And an astonishing figure of 10 million Rwandans have only 12 optometrists and opthalmologists to turn to.
But Kenny, who works on the way technology can facilitate development, reports that significant advancements have been made to bring better eyesight to those who need it , some of which doesn’t require (or rely heavily upon) practitioners. And most of it at a very affordable rate in the $5-$15 range; some solutions are as little as $1.