World Glaucoma Patient Association (WGPA) – Call for Volunteers

The World Glaucoma Patient Association (WGPA) is a non-profit organization focused on facilitating interchange between patient associations from around the globe and to encourage the formation of new groups in unserviced countries.  WGPA has operated since 2005.

WGPA would like to evolve member/association interchange and required fundraising, while continuing to operate with a small volunteer honorary Executive Committee, without permanent staff or membership fees.  We would also like to engage glaucoma patients and experts, member of their families and friends, especially youth.  Please help us to help our stakeholder community to deal with this debilitating disease.

Please email [email protected] with a brief bio to be considered for these volunteer positions.

In particular, we are looking for passionate and proactive non‑technical volunteers with the following competencies:

·         Journalists, technical writers, editors, media content managers that would help us to further develop our Web site (worldgpa.org) and issue periodic electronic newsletters (aiming for monthly, but no less than quarterly) to support these above goals.  They would help to manage the Web site and newsletter content.  Ability to use simple language and streamlined graphic interface is vital. The website should be able to support automatic translation to local languages in real time.

Most of the content would be provided by member associations and glaucoma experts, with open subscription and occasional mailing campaigns for essential fundraising and dynamic interaction with various stakeholder communities.  It should look professional and be always kept secure.

·         Information or library experts, to manage WGPA records as per government and privacy requirements and Board-approved policies.

·         Executives and experts to manage WGPA’s relationships with members associations, glaucoma experts, industry and some proactive individual patients; able to ensure effective information exchange between worldwide member patient associations. 

·         Experts in marketing and fundraising.  Should be able to develop effective marketing/communications strategies with ongoing implementation to build a vibrant community of member associations and to attract donors to support WGPA mission online and offline.  Interactions with various stakeholders should facilitate the growth of the client associations’ community and fundraising efforts.

·         For all of the above listed competencies, knowledge of Web technology or programming, although desirable, is not essential.

Eyedrop*Printguide – Call for Experts for Hosting on thingiverse.com

Eyedrop*Printguide is a recently developed public domain design of an eye drop guide that could be freely downloaded and 3D‑printed rapidly and inexpensively anywhere in the world.

Fig. 1. Perspective shot Eyedrop*Printguide

We are looking for volunteer computer experts familiar with hosting 3D‑printing software on the open hosting site thingiverse.com.

We are also looking for an experienced Intellectual Property lawyer, to help ensure that this software and its future modifications could all be kept in the public domain.

The need for the guide:

1.    Millions of people with eye disorders require frequent self-administering of eye drops.

2.    Even when ‘normal’ dexterity persons self-administer eye drops, it requires demanding concentration and manual adroitness.  Not infrequently, one misses at first, and it is necessary to try again and perhaps again.  Medication wastage may be significant, especially for aged or sick people, or those with arthritis or tremor.  Often, administering drops by another person is difficult to arrange.

3.    Spillage is bad, because it:

a.    Diminishes treatment efficiency.

b.    Is among major factors that 50-75% of frustrated patients discontinue self-treatment, even if it leads to more disease, vision deterioration or blindness.

c.    Not less important, some eye medication, such as for glaucoma, is quite expensive, costing several dollars per drop.  Hence, an eye drop guide that could reduce spillage pays for itself fast, especially if its design file is free to download.

Fighting Glaucoma: An Action Handbook.  By Ivan Goldberg and Nahum Goldmann

Kugler Publications/Amsterdam/The Netherlands; kuglerpublications.com

ISBN 978-90-6299-269-0.  Also available on Amazon.

The authors of this new Handbook still have several free review copies.  Please email[email protected] if you would like to review it.  We would especially appreciate the feedback by glaucoma patients, caregivers and experts.