Category: Latest News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE St John’s, Antigua and Barbuda, March 12th, 2012: An appeal has been made for Caribbean Governments to make eye health services affordable to the bottom fifty (50%) of their populations. In a message to mark World Glaucoma Week, the Chief Executive Officer of the Caribbean Council for the Blind (CCB), Arvel Grant, noted that in the wake of the current global financial crisis, regional governments must give those most at risk access to eye health services within the public sector. “Since poverty and under development are leading contributors to blindness and visual impairment, the current global financial …

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE St John’s Antigua and Barbuda – March 7, 2012:  President of the Caribbean Council for the Blind (CCB), Lola Marson, has called on Governments across the Caribbean to place more emphasis on highlighting the plight of  women who are blind and visually impaired . In an interview to mark International Women’s Day, the CCB President, who is also the Executive Director of the Jamaica Society for the Blind, appealed to groups representing the disabled to increase their visibility. “I don’t think that groups representing persons who are disabled are doing enough advocacy work. In times gone by …

The Caribbean Council for the Blind/ Eye Care Caribbean and Sightsavers with support from their international and regional partners and the European Commission, hosted a two day meeting at the Hyatt Hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad on the 1st and 2nd of December, 2011. The meeting focused on VISION 2020: THE RIGHT TO SIGHT, the global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness, and gave persons involved in eye health from across the region an opportunity to learn, share and network, leading to a more cohesive, regional approach to reducing the prevalence of blindness in the Caribbean.

St. John’s, Antigua: Sixty- nine residents and members of staff at the Fiennes Institute benefitted from an Optometry Clinic hosted by the Caribbean Council for the Blind/Eye Care Caribbean, in partnership with the Government of Antigua and Barbuda. The two-day Clinic held on August 22nd and 23rd was led by Dr. Genalin Ang, a Senior Lecturer in Optometry at the University of Guyana and three of her second-year Optometry Students.

Wednesday, August 24,2011 ST JOHNS, ANTIGUA – The Government of Antigua and Barbuda has promised to fully support all waivers, duties, taxes and any other charges regarding the importation of supplies needed by for programmes to carried out in the country by the Caribbean Council for the Blind/Eye Care Caribbean. This was announced by Finance and Economy Minister, Harold Lovell at Monday’s opening ceremony to mark the start of a two-day Optometry Clinic at the Fiennes Institute. “The programme here is so important that it is something that we need to give very, very special recognition to and whilst it will benefit residents of the …

ST JOHN’S, Antigua – The Caribbean Council for the Blind/Eye Care Caribbean (CCB) is one of those non-profit organisations that flies below the radar most of the time, doing a lot of work in the background that doesn’t get much notice from the general public. However, the work that the group has been doing since it was first established in 1967 is significant, so much so that the government of Antigua & Barbuda is now moving to assist it in more official ways. CCB is based in Antigua & Barbuda, and is headed by CEO Arvel Grant. Among the activities …

“There is far too much blindness and low vision in the Caribbean  …..more work needs to be done to educate and influence families and especially children and young people on the way diet can have an effect  on their health and that includes their vision.” – Baroness Floella Benjamin of Beckenham. 44th Anniversary Meeting of Caribbean Council for the Blind-Eye Care CaribbeanTrinidad and Tobago  – July 28th, 2011  

Her Excellency the Frist Lady Dr. Jean Ramjohn-Richards on July 28, 2011 received a courtesy call from Lady Floella Benjamin, Baroness of Beckenham at Knowsley, Port of Spain. The Baroness is the feature speaker at the Caribbean Council for the Blind Biennial and 42nd Anniversary General Conference at the Hyatt Regency.