What to know
These partners support the work of CDC’s Vision Health Initiative and provide VEHSS with key data on the prevalence of vision loss and blindness, major eye conditions, and more.
![Two hands shaking](/vision-health-data/media/images/VEHSS-partnerships.jpg)
NORC at the University of Chicago
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a cooperative agreement to NORC at the University of Chicago to lead the development of the Vision and Eye Health Surveillance System (VEHSS). NORC is an objective, nonpartisan research institution that delivers reliable data and rigorous analysis to guide critical programmatic, business, and policy decisions. Since 1941, NORC has conducted groundbreaking studies, created and applied innovative methods and tools, and advanced principles of scientific integrity and collaboration. Today, government, corporate, and nonprofit clients around the world partner with NORC to transform increasingly complex information into useful knowledge.
American Academy of Ophthalmology
The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) is the world's largest association of eye physicians and surgeons. AAO is a global community of 32,000 medical doctors that innovates to advance their profession and to ensure the delivery of the highest-quality eye care. The AAO IRIS® Registry (Intelligent Research in Sight) is a major initiative to lead significant innovations and improvements to medical and surgical eye care in the United States, from large-scale breakthroughs to incremental improvements by individual care providers. It is the world's largest eye disease and condition registry with more than 13,000 participating physicians and millions of patient records.
The IRIS® Registry provides VEHSS with important information on the diagnosed prevalence of vision loss and major eye conditions, as well as service utilization and access to care.
Prevent Blindness
Founded in 1908, Prevent Blindness works to improve the nation's vision and eye health by promoting advances in public health systems that support eye health needs, advocating for public policy that emphasizes early detection and access to eye care, and educating the American public on the importance of taking care of their eyes and their vision. Prevent Blindness promotes a continuum of vision care through all life stages by bringing together science and policy to implement positive population-based change with an emphasis on early detection and access to care. In recent years, Prevent Blindness has focused on implementing nationwide systems change to affect vision and eye health. Such efforts include advocating for the establishment and funding of a Vision Health Initiative at the CDC; publishing data on the prevalence of vision problems and their associated costs; establishing a National Center for Children's Vision and Eye Health; and hosting the National Summit on Eye Health. Prevent Blindness's work is amplified by a network of affiliates, regional offices, and program partners. Prevent Blindness serves as the public interface for VEHSS for much of the system's activities, including stakeholder engagement and public dissemination of information.
University of Washington Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
Established in 2007, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) is an independent research center within UW Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle. IHME provides rigorous and comparable measurement of the world's most important health problems and evaluates strategies to address them. IHME makes this information available so that policy makers, donors, practitioners, researchers, and local and global decision makers have the evidence they need to make informed decisions about how to allocate resources to improve population health.
VSP Global
VSP Global is a doctor-governed company that exists to create value for members and opportunities for VSP network doctors. Our industry leading businesses combine eye care insurance, high-quality eyewear, customized lenses, ophthalmic technology, and connected experiences to strengthen the relationship between patients and their eye doctors.
VSP Global includes VSP Vision Care, the only national nonprofit company in vision care. Partnering with more than 39,000 network doctors, VSP Vision Care provides access to high-quality affordable eye care and eyewear to more than 88 million members worldwide.
Through Eyes of Hope, VSP supports local communities around the globe with initiatives that provide access to eye care, eyewear, education, and disaster relief where they're needed most. Together with VSP network doctors, to date, through Eyes of Hope, VSP Global has provided access to no-cost eye care and eyewear for more than 1.8 million people in need.