Oct. 20, 2021 — Prevent Blindness announced this week that the Senate Appropriations Committee released its proposed legislation to fund programs under the Department of Health and Human Services in fiscal year 2022. 

The organization shares that as a result of its continued advocacy efforts, the Senate Appropriations legislation includes a total of $6 million for vision and eye health programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Specifically, the Senate proposes to fund the CDC’s Vision Health Initiative (VHI) at $2 million in fiscal year 2022—a $1 million increase over fiscal year 2021.

The Senate legislation instructs the CDC to improve “existing surveillance of social, economic, and environmental contexts as related to eye health care disparities.” The CDC’s Glaucoma project would continue to be funded at $4 million. If the legislation is enacted into law, the VHI’s funding level would be at its highest since fiscal year 2010.

In the spring, 117 organizations joined Prevent Blindness in a letter to Congress urging an increase in funding for vision and eye health programs at the CDC.

“Prevent Blindness applauds the Senate for recognizing the importance of investing in vision and eye health programs at the CDC,” says Jeff Todd, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness. “The VHI addresses our national vision impairment and eye disease burden through public health surveillance, research, and evidence-based interventions. With over 93 million Americans at high risk of vision loss and 721 counties in the United States without a practicing eyecare provider, this critical and timely investment will strengthen the VHI’s ability to collaborate with states and communities around early detection, intervention, and prevention efforts and to help address disparities in equitable access to eye care.”

The federal government is currently operating on a continuing resolution (which funds programs at fiscal year 2021 levels) through at least Dec. 3, 2021. While the House passed its version of the fiscal year 2022 appropriations bills earlier this summer, the Senate would still need to agree to fiscal year 2022 legislation and reconcile differences with the House bills before sending a final package to President Biden for signature into law. Prevent Blindness shares that as this process continues, it urges Congress to work together to increase the VHI’s funding over its current funding level and move toward final passage of fiscal year 2022 legislation.

For more from Prevent Blindness: preventblindness.org.