Dr. Juan Carlos Silva
Regional Advisor on Visual and Hearing Care | Pan American Health Organization
Bogota, COLOMBIA
Dr. Silva has been working as the eye care regional Adviser for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Pan American Health Organization
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Biography
After training as a medical doctor, specialty in ophthalmology in Colombia, in preventive ophthalmology at the DANA Center, and in eye pathology at the Wilmer Institute in Baltimore USA, Dr. Silva has been working as the eye care regional Adviser for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Pan American Health Organization, regional office of the World Health Organization since 1991. In 2004 got a master’s degree in public health (MPH) at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Dr. Silva devotes most time doing program’s situation analysis and working closely with country teams in planning and developing eye care programs, he is author or coauthor in more than 50 publications in peer review journals.
Areas of Expertise (10)
DR Barometer Program
Public Health
Eye Care
Macular Degeneration
Cataract Surgery
Eye Diseases
Glaucoma
Retinal Pigment Epithelium
Ear and Hearing Care
Eye Care Systems
Accomplishments (3)
Francisco Contreras Prevention of Blindness Award
2019 Pan American Association of Ophthalmology
Annual Director's Award
2005 Pan American Health Organization
Regional Advisor on visual and hearing care
January 1991-Present Epidemiology and health systems assessment, eye care program’s situation analysis and working closely with country teams in planning and developing eye and ear care programs, author or coauthor in more than 50 publications in peer review journals.
Education (4)
Johns Hopkins University, School of Public Health: M.P.H., Public Health 2004
Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine: Research Fellowship, Eye Pathology 1990
Universidad del Rosario, School of Medicine: Residency, Ophthalmology 1987
Universidad del Rosario, School of Medicine: M.D., Medicine 1983
Affiliations (1)
- Pan American Health Organization
Links (7)
Languages (2)
- Spanish
- English
Media Appearances (1)
Expanding access to comprehensive eye care services in Peru
World Health Organization online
2018-10-11
“More recently the focus of PAHO technical cooperation has been on improving the delivery of eye care services and solution-based research” according to Dr Juan Carlos Silva, Regional Advisor PAHO.
Featured Articles (5)
National survey of blindness and visual impairment in Guatemala, 2015
Arquivos Brasileiros de Oftalmologia
Juan C. Silva, et al.
2019 PURPOSE: To estimate the prevalence of blindness and visual impairment in older adults living in Guatemala. METHODS: Participants ³50 years of age were selected using random cluster sampling and evaluated using the Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness method. Visual acuity was measured, and the lens was examined. If presenting visual acuity was
Evidence for national universal eye health plans
Bulletin of the World Health Organization
Jacqueline Ramke, Anthony Zwi, Juan C. Silva, Nyawira Mwangi
2018 Many low- and middle-income countries use national eye-care plans to guide efforts to strengthen eye-care services. The World Health Organization recognizes that evidence is essential to inform these plans. We assessed how evidence was incorporated in a sample of 28 national eye-care plans generated since the Universal eye health: a global action plan 2014–2019 was endorsed by the World Health Assembly in 2013. Most countries (26, 93%) cited estimates of the prevalence of blindness and 18 countries (64%) had set targets for the cataract surgical rate in their plan.
Prevalence and causes of vision loss in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2015: Magnitude, temporal trends and projections
British Journal of Ophthalmology
Juan C. Silva, et al
2018 Objective To estimate the prevalence and causes of blindness and vision impairment for distance and near in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) in 2015 and to forecast trends to 2020. Methods A meta-analysis from a global systematic review of 283 cross-sectional, population-representative studies from published and unpublished sources from 1980 to 2014 in the Global Vision Database included 17 published and 6 unpublished studies from LAC.
Reducing Blindness from Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) in Argentina Through Collaboration, Advocacy and Policy Implementation
Health Policy and Planning
Juan C. Silva, et al.
2018 Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a largely avoidable cause of blindness in children worldwide, requiring high-quality neonatal care, early detection and treatment. In middle-income countries throughout Latin America, Eastern Europe and South Asia, there has been a rise in ROP blindness due to a combination of increased survival of preterm infants, resource-scarce medical environments and lack of policies, training and human resources.
Prevalence of refractive error and spectacle coverage in schoolchildren in two urban areas of Chile
Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública
Fernando Barria, Francisco Conte, Sergio R. Munoz, Janet L. Leasher, Juan C. Silva
2018 Objective. To assess the impact of efforts to reduce visual impairment by detecting and treating refractive errors (REs) among schoolchildren in two urban areas of Chile. Methods. In 2013, in the communities of Concepción and La Florida, we conducted a mul-ticenter, multistage-sampling, cross-sectional study employing methods used by the Refractive Error Study in Children (RESC) survey.