 AC MD FRANZCO, Harold Mitchell Chair of Indigenous Eye Health,
Melbourne School of Population Health at the University of Melbourne
Professor Hugh Taylor has been dedicated to ophthalmic research and teaching for over 30 years. His research includes blindness prevention strategies, infectious causes of blindness and the relationship between medicine, public health and health economics. Currently, his work is focused on Aboriginal eye health and trachoma.
Prof Taylor is Vice-President of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, Treasurer of the International Council of Ophthalmology, a Board Member of Vision 2020 Australia, and a member of the Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis.
Prof Taylor has written 16 books, more than 500 papers and consulted for the World Health Organization for 30 years. Awards he has received include a Companion of the Order of Australia and the Helen Keller Prize for Vision Research.
Prof Taylor has been on the Faculty of the Wilmer Institute at The Johns Hopkins University with joint appointments in Epidemiology and International Health, was Professor of Ophthalmology and Head of Department at the University of Melbourne. He is the founding Managing Director of the Centre for Eye Research Australia.
Abstract
The National Indigenous Eye Health Survey, conducted Australia-wide in 2008, has shown that rates of blindness in Indigenous adults are 6.2 times higher than rates reported for mainstream Australia, with much of this vision loss being due to readily
avoidable causes.
Blinding endemic trachoma also remains a major public health problem in many Aboriginal and Torres Straight islander communities.
The Australian Government’s recent commitment to eliminate blinding trachoma is welcomed and much needed, although better allocation of services and resources is required to give all Australians quality
in vision. |
