S1: From Vision Australia. This is talking vision. And now here's
S1: your host Sam Colley.
S2: Hello, everyone. It's great to be here with you. And
S2: for the next half hour, we talk matters of blindness
S2: and low vision.
S3: The point that I think Brandon and I have been
S3: making is that when organizations like vision 2020, in all
S3: of their different countries, go to their governments and say, hey,
S3: you need to come to the Global Eye Health Summit. Really,
S3: the people who are impacted by eHealth should be involved
S3: in those conversations and part of the advocacy push.
S2: Welcome to the program. This week, we have a long
S2: form conversation with a couple of attendees at the recent
S2: 2030 Insight Live conference, which recently wrapped up in Kathmandu
S2: in Nepal. Their names are Jonathan, Craig and Brandon are
S2: Tong from vision 2020 and Fred Hollows Foundation, respectively. And
S2: they're here to talk to me about a range of topics,
S2: including the recent conference. Brandon's new role as the chair
S2: of the Western Pacific branch of the International Association for
S2: the Prevention of Blindness, and the work that the Iapb
S2: and various eHealth and advocacy bodies are doing to put
S2: together plans for a global eHealth summit to take place
S2: in 2026 or 2027. I hope you enjoy this week's
S2: episode of Talking Vision. With this year's 2030 Insight Live
S2: conference recently Concluding in Kathmandu, I had the great pleasure
S2: of speaking with two of the attendees, Jonathan Craig and
S2: Brandon Ah Tong. Now, Jonathan Craig is a voice you
S2: may have heard a couple of times on Talking Vision.
S2: He's the policy and advocacy manager at vision 2020 Australia.
S2: But this is my first time chatting with Brandon for very,
S2: very long time listeners. You may have heard him back
S2: in the day chatting with Stephen Jolly, but these days
S2: he is the equivalent of sorts to Jonathan working at
S2: Fred Hollows. There's also been quite a few developments of late,
S2: which I was very excited to chat to Brandon and
S2: Jonathan about, such as the conferences build up to a
S2: planned global health summit, and that's ongoing. But we also
S2: saw Brandon sworn in as the Western Pacific chair of Iapb.
S2: So without further ado, please enjoy my conversation with Jonathan
S2: Craig and Brandon Hartung on this week's episode of Talking Vision.
S2: Jonathan Brandon, welcome to Talking Vision. Thank you very much
S2: for your time.
S3: Thank you for having us.
S4: Great to be here, Sam.
S2: Now, Jonathan, we've spoken a couple of times before, but Brandon,
S2: you're quite new to talking vision. Let's just give you
S2: an opportunity to introduce yourself and Jonathan will come to
S2: you afterwards for new listeners.
S4: Sure. Happy to do so. Sam and I actually have
S4: been here a number of times in the past. So
S4: my name's Brandon Hartung. My day job is the director
S4: of Global Policy and Advocacy with the Fred Hollows Foundation.
S4: But I do wear several hats, one of which is
S4: the regional chair for the Western Pacific, for the International
S4: Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, which is effectively the
S4: global peak body for the eHealth sector. I'm also a
S4: board member of vision 2020 Australia, former employee of Vision Australia,
S4: current member of Vision Australia and client and also a
S4: member of Blind Citizens Australia. So many hats.
S3: So many hats.
S2: Certainly. And speaking of hats, you've got quite a few yourself, Jonathan.
S2: Perhaps not as many as Brandon, but still quite impressive
S2: in their own right.
S3: Yeah, I'm working on my hat collection, so I am
S3: currently policy and advocacy manager for vision 2020 Australia and
S3: former editor, also of Blind Citizen's News magazine from BCA.
S2: And as I understand it, Jonathan, you've been jet setting
S2: around the world recently. You've headed off to Kathmandu in
S2: Nepal for the 2030 Insight Live conference. So tell us
S2: a bit about that one and how that all went.
S3: So this was my first Insight Live conference. Do you
S3: know how many you've been to, Brandon?
S4: Oh, must be my 11th.
S3: Yeah. So the two of us were coming to it
S3: from different angles. But Brandon was a big part of
S3: convincing me that I should and could go. And also,
S3: my CEO, Carly Isles, played a big part. And I
S3: think for me to go to a conference where 59
S3: countries were represented, that in itself was just extraordinary. And
S3: to really think about the fact that all over the world,
S3: people are dealing with the same kind of issues and
S3: coming toward the same kind of solutions as we are
S3: here in Australia is also very helpful in that it
S3: makes us all feel less alone. And yet there are
S3: also really unique contextual problems everywhere that we go, and
S3: contextual solutions as well. Um, Nepal is a very interesting
S3: country because they're really very, very committed to eHealth and
S3: to creating better treatment pathways for preventable blindness. But they
S3: have so many problems there with remoteness and trying to
S3: get services out to people and trying to educate people
S3: about what services are available. So I like to say
S3: that I was very wide eared. I was just so
S3: eager to absorb and learn about everything.
S2: Brandon, I'm very interested to come to you now and
S2: get your thoughts on the most recent conference, but also
S2: as a veteran Insight Live conference attendee. I'm very interested
S2: to just get some details for people out there who
S2: may not be familiar with the conference and the sort
S2: of topics they cover.
S4: Sure. Happy to do that. Maybe I might find, you know,
S4: a decade or so to my first conference and coming
S4: it from that angle. So my career in policy and
S4: advocacy started here at Vision Australia, actually. And the last
S4: role I had was the manager of the public Affairs department.
S4: And then I moved to vision 2020 Australia, actually, where
S4: into a predecessor role of Jonathan's in actual fact. And
S4: so it was there that I attended my first Iapb
S4: or International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness conference. At
S4: that time they were called Council of Members meetings, and
S4: they were very much so simply there for members of
S4: Iapb to come together to look at issues affecting members
S4: in the areas, regions, countries that they're working in and
S4: to work towards what was then the broader movement of
S4: vision 2020, Right to Sight and the Who's global Action
S4: Plan on universal health. If we skip forward to 2020,
S4: 2020 was both a year and the culmination of that
S4: vision 2020 movement. So there was a question mark around,
S4: so what are we doing post 2020? And in the
S4: development of the new global strategy, what emerged was a
S4: strategy called 2030 in sight. And that strategy really tries
S4: to lean into three things. One, it's about elevating eHealth
S4: as a political issue in the broader Sustainable Development Goals
S4: world or SDGs. Number two, to integrate eHealth within health
S4: and beyond health. And number three, to really drive activation
S4: of eHealth, um, with different sectors such as the private
S4: sector and public private partnerships and those sorts of things.
S4: So 2030 Insight Night Live is a conference that's aimed
S4: at progressing that strategy. And unlike the conference of a
S4: decade ago, this conference is really about trying to bring
S4: a broader group of members and supporters together towards this
S4: broader movement. And again, 2030 is both part of the
S4: title of the strategy. But of course, it's also about
S4: the year 2030 that culminates in the end of the
S4: current SDG or Sustainable Development Goals era. So that's really
S4: the background of where 2030 Insight Live has come from.
S4: And I've seen a real shift in evolution of the conversations,
S4: the types of areas of interest that people coming to
S4: the conference are looking to lean into, learn from, and
S4: deepen their understanding around. And one of them is around
S4: the question of, are we here simply to address avoidable blindness?
S4: And I wouldn't mind coming back to that question in
S4: a second. But also the current W.H.O. strategy, which is
S4: called integrated people centred eyecare. Which comes under a broader
S4: framework around advancing and trying to achieve universal health coverage.
S4: Which basically means that everybody, everywhere should have equal access
S4: to quality and affordable health services. And in our case,
S4: eHealth and eye care services. And that spectrum goes beyond
S4: avoidable blindness, but also includes vision rehabilitation, access to assistive technologies,
S4: and ensuring that people who are blind or vision impaired
S4: are fully included and participate in their communities.
S3: Mhm. Okay. And vision rehabilitation is and all of that is,
S3: is yeah. The work that Vision Australia does here. But
S3: you know is done by various organizations in the rest
S3: of the world.
S2: Jonathan, I'm really keen to, um, continue on with you
S2: and give Brandon's voice a little bit of a break
S2: because he's just given some absolutely fantastic descriptions and insights there. But, Jonathan, I'll, um,
S2: continue on with you, especially in regards to the conferences
S2: and their work towards a planned global eHealth summit, which
S2: has been eHealth has been mentioned in there quite extensively
S2: by Brandon. But tell us a little bit about that
S2: global summit and the plans around that one.
S3: Yes. Well, this was a really important topic of the conference, really.
S3: The global eHealth summit, put very simply, is essentially a
S3: real push to get many countries, hopefully 50 countries at least,
S3: to make a real and genuine commitment to eHealth. And
S3: another example that you might have heard about on Vision
S3: Australia Radio is the Global disability summit that happened earlier
S3: this year. But the Global Health Summit is something that
S3: we're building up towards and strategizing towards. How can we
S3: get our countries involved? And that's where vision 2020 comes
S3: into play here, because one of our missions will be,
S3: how can we get Australia to come to the summit?
S3: Can we get Australia to make a commitment around eHealth
S3: at the global eHealth summit, when it happens in 2026
S3: or 2027? So I think that was the pulse of
S3: the conference. And really, Brandon and I kind of have
S3: an interesting, like shared opinion or shared mission that we have,
S3: if you don't mind me saying, you know, which is
S3: I think that one of the things that IPB needs
S3: to do more, which is not to be criticizing them,
S3: but we really think is valuable, is to bring more
S3: lived experience into the conversation. Now, lived experience doesn't necessarily
S3: just mean people who are blind, but it also means
S3: people who have been patients and who have benefited from
S3: eHealth services and or people who haven't benefited when they
S3: needed eHealth services. For someone who needed a cataract surgery
S3: but wasn't able to get one. And the point that
S3: I think Brandon and I have been making is that
S3: when organizations like vision 2020, in all of their different countries,
S3: go to their governments and say, hey, you need to
S3: come to the global eHealth summit. Really, the people who
S3: are impacted by eHealth should be involved in those conversations
S3: and part of the advocacy push. Do you think that's
S3: a good starting point of what we're talking about, Brandon?
S4: Yeah, absolutely. And you've brought one of the things that
S4: we really need to strengthen and work on within Iapb Britain,
S4: within the broader eHealth sector itself. And I think, number one,
S4: starting with bringing those voices to conferences like this, embedding
S4: those voices into existing subcommittees and committees, developing the summit
S4: will be really important to actually bring that perspective in
S4: and to expand out the breadth and the depth of
S4: what we do at the summit and what we're trying
S4: to engage governments first and foremost, to actually commit to.
S4: And it's been my mission in my own professional career
S4: to try and bridge the divide between what I would
S4: call sort of vision related disability and eHealth, where you've
S4: got those prevention treatment elements. And because us as people,
S4: we're not as simple as saying you're in that box
S4: or this box. We are people who engage in healthcare.
S4: We are people who engage with various types of services,
S4: whether it be orthoptics or using assistive technology or orientation
S4: and mobility. We come in and out of things all
S4: the time, and we need to make sure that the
S4: summit and what governments are signing up to actually reflect
S4: that experience and the breadth and depth of what people
S4: really need in their lives.
S2: On Sam Corley and you're listening to Talking Vision on
S2: Vision Australia Radio. Associated Stations of Reading Radio and the
S2: Community Radio Network. I hope you enjoyed the first half
S2: of that interview there with Brandon Hartung and Jonathan Craig.
S2: If you missed any part of my conversation today with
S2: Brandon or Jonathan, or you'd love to hear it again,
S2: please feel free to head to the Vision Australia Radio
S2: website at radio That's RVA radio Dot to catch up
S2: on all episodes of Talking Vision, including this one. You
S2: can also find the program on the podcast app of
S2: your choice or through the Vision Australia library. And now,
S2: please enjoy the second half of my interview with Brandon
S2: and Jonathan. We're staying with Brandon as I chat to
S2: him about a recent development. A quite exciting one where
S2: he has been sworn in as the chair of the Iapb.
S2: S Western Pacific Region brand. And I'd love to stay
S2: with you and have a little bit of a chat
S2: about some recent developments for you in regards to being
S2: sworn in as the Western Pacific Chair of Iapb. So
S2: I'm really keen to get your feelings around that, and
S2: also what you're really looking forward to getting stuck into.
S2: And I guess this is also a good opportunity to
S2: come back to that question you raised around preventable blindness.
S4: Sure. Let me start with I'll zoom out to global
S4: and then I'll come into the Western Pacific region. So
S4: if we look at what is the population of the
S4: world that we're talking about here. So the numbers are
S4: quite stark. So if we talk about people who have
S4: a vision impairment of some sort, whether it's been prevented
S4: or treated already. People who do wear glasses, for example,
S4: we're talking about more than 2.2 billion people globally. Of those,
S4: at least 1.1 billion people have a condition that has
S4: could have been prevented or is yet to be treated.
S4: Within that group, at least 80 million people have a
S4: condition of blindness or vision impairment that is not preventable
S4: at this point in time and need access to assistive technology,
S4: skills development and universal access in the community. So they're
S4: the numbers in the Western Pacific region, which I have
S4: the privilege and honor. And it's a bit humbling to
S4: think about, really to represent are the members in the
S4: western rim of the Pacific Ocean, which ranges from up
S4: in Mongolia, China, Japan, Korea through Southeast Asia, you know, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam,
S4: down through Australia and the Pacific, Pacific Islands, Samoa, Fiji,
S4: Tonga and all the way down to New Zealand. So
S4: 37 countries in all, and we have around about 27
S4: members within those countries. And in terms of blindness and
S4: vision impairment, around about 90 million people have a condition
S4: who are blind or moderate to severe vision impairment. And
S4: of those around about 10 million people who are blind,
S4: that number zooms up. If you think about conditions like presbyopia,
S4: which is otherwise known as near vision impairment. Those numbers
S4: go up even more. Some of the conditions that are
S4: particularly prevalent in this region and Australia's in this region,
S4: of course, are uncorrected refractive error. So people who need
S4: a pair of glasses here in Australia, we kind of
S4: often take it for granted that we can get a
S4: pair of glasses, but we do know that somewhere in
S4: the vicinity of two out of three people who need
S4: a pair of glasses globally don't actually have a pair.
S4: We also know here in Australia that if you are
S4: Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, you're three times more likely
S4: to need a pair of glasses or have vision impairment
S4: than non-Indigenous Australians. So it's an issue that, like Jonathan
S4: said earlier, pervades different countries, but people and communities within
S4: countries as well. So my role, I mean, I'm really
S4: excited by the role. I've got sort of two things
S4: in my list right now. One is advancing the global summit,
S4: and that means trying to look at engaging our members,
S4: engaging countries within this region to both. Number one, attend
S4: the summit. Number two, commit to making tangible commitments in
S4: policy and practice, in funding and regulation for those commitments
S4: and to really kind of lean in and activate the
S4: base of the health sector within countries in the region.
S4: That's number one. And then number two at the moment,
S4: you know, I'm a newbie, so I'm really keen to
S4: be listening and talking to our members and understanding what's
S4: the world like for them. What's keeping them up at night?
S4: What do they need to focus on? And from an
S4: IP perspective, what can IP be do to help?
S2: Speaking of newbies, I mean Jonathan's very, very new to
S2: the world of newbie.
S3: What am.
S2: I? Yeah. In terms of his involvement with Iapb, he's
S2: just recently dived into that world. But it'd be great
S2: to just get the perspective of both of you as
S2: two people with lived experience of blindness at very different
S2: stages of engagement with Iapb. So Jonathan will come to
S2: you and get your thoughts and feelings.
S3: Yeah. So my blindness is not avoidable. I was born
S3: with what the. You know, an inherited retinal disease is
S3: the technical term for it. But I came into this
S3: conference with IPB making a real commitment to think about
S3: how they include people who are blind or vision impaired.
S3: And they came up with an actually a really brilliant idea,
S3: which is really worth highlighting, which was that they employed
S3: optometry students from Nepal as sighted guides to assist people
S3: who were attending the conference. And I think the real
S3: benefit of that was that the optometry students felt like
S3: they were getting something out of it. They felt like
S3: they were benefiting from it by being able to attend
S3: a conference that they would otherwise not have afforded to
S3: go to. And so it was there was this equitable
S3: relationship that I had where I was getting something I
S3: could go, where I wanted to go when I wanted
S3: to go there. But the student was also getting something.
S3: I'm seeing IPB at had a bit of an inflection
S3: point where they are starting to think a little bit
S3: more about rehabilitation, as is the technical term, and about
S3: what happens when people have gone blind. I initially went thinking, oh,
S3: I don't know anything about this, and there's nothing I
S3: could possibly contribute. You know, I'm just going to sit
S3: and listen. But then I think there is something great
S3: that we do in Australia and in some parts of
S3: the world that I think is really important, which is
S3: increasingly through things like vision 2020, the eye health sector
S3: is being connected to each other. So, as you said,
S3: Brandon before, we're connecting in optometry and ophthalmology to assistive technology,
S3: to occupational therapy, to orientation and mobility. We're not having
S3: these things separated with an impenetrable wall between them. And
S3: I think that's the thing that might change over time. IPB.
S4: It's funny, Jonathan, you may have thought you were coming
S4: on a holiday, but we put you to work pretty hard.
S4: And interestingly, one of the things that does happen at
S4: these conferences where there's a formal conference component, but because
S4: we're trying to make use of people coming together from
S4: all over the world, like you said, 59 countries, we
S4: have other work group meetings the day before, but there
S4: was also other global summit meetings, and poor Jonathan was
S4: roped into all of the above. So we put him
S4: to work pretty hard.
S2: Oh, fantastic. Okay. Well, I might get some final thoughts
S2: from you both. So Jonathan will come to you. And
S2: what do you look forward to in the future of
S2: IAP and the work you're also doing elsewhere in the
S2: various hats you're wearing at the moment?
S3: Yeah, I really think that this was my first and
S3: won't be my last insight live. I think that it
S3: was a great group of people that I got talking to,
S3: and honestly, it made me feel happy that there are
S3: people all over the world trying to work through the
S3: same problems, and I'm looking forward to using that collective
S3: global wisdom more in my own work.
S2: Okay, and Brandon, just come to you for a final wrap.
S4: Sure. Just before I do that, I did want to
S4: say that one of the things that was terrific and
S4: it was really amazing to have Jonathan part of it.
S4: There was the launch of a disability inclusion work group
S4: as part of the official Iapb work groups. And that
S4: group will be really looking about how do we infuse
S4: disability inclusion throughout the work of the Iapb. And Jonathan
S4: was part of that conversation and has some actions to
S4: take forward. So I think that's a really great sign
S4: for me having Jonathan come to the conference. I'm often
S4: one of maybe 1 or 2 people who who are
S4: blind at the conference, and we need more people who
S4: are blind coming to the conference and sharing their stories 100%.
S4: So going forward, I mean, I the big the big
S4: ticket really moving forward is to make the Global Summit
S4: on eHealth live and create the movement for change that
S4: goes way beyond an event that we need to have
S4: both various political campaigns that build up to and bring
S4: governments to the table. There will be the summit itself,
S4: but it goes way beyond that. We'll have an accountability framework.
S4: So what I would like your listeners to think about
S4: is how might you get involved in talking to local
S4: members or even talking to vision 2020 Australia, or even
S4: coming to Vision Australia and asking, you know, what are
S4: you doing around supporting the global summit? Because we've got
S4: actions that need to happen here, here, here at home
S4: in Australia. And this is a platform where we can
S4: both create change here in Australia and then take that learning,
S4: take those commitments to be part of that global movement.
S2: Well, on that note, I think we might wrap up there.
S2: I've been speaking today with Brandon Tong and Jonathan Craig about, well,
S2: what haven't we talked about today? The 2030 Insight conference,
S2: which recently wrapped up in Kathmandu and Nepal, the plans
S2: around the Global Eye Health Summit, Brandon being sworn in
S2: as the Western Pacific chair of Iapb, and Jonathan and
S2: Brandon's thoughts about being involved with Iapb at different stages
S2: of their engagement with the organization. So we're very keen
S2: to keep tabs on both of those stories and have
S2: you back on the program in the coming months and years.
S2: So thank you very much to you both for making
S2: some time to chat with me today. It's been an
S2: absolute pleasure.
S3: Thank you.
S4: I'd love to and looking forward to another chat.
S2: And that's all the time we have for today. You've
S2: been listening to Talking Vision. Talking vision is a Vision
S2: Australia radio production. Thanks to all involved with putting the
S2: show together every week. And remember, we love hearing from you.
S2: So please get in touch anytime on our email at
S2: Talking Vision at Vision Australia. That's talking vision all. One
S2: word at Vision Australia. But until next week it's Sam
S2: Culley saying bye for now.
S1: You can contact Vision Australia by phoning us anytime during
S1: business hours on one 384 746. That's one 384 74
S1: six or by visiting Vision Australia. That's Vision Australia.