Conduct a RAAB

Conduct a RAAB

Conducting a Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness (RAAB) survey provides high-quality data to help design, deliver and evaluate effective eye health programmes. It is a key step planners can take to help ensure programmes are a success. However, RAABs require careful planning to ensure useful, high-quality data is collected. Each RAAB survey is supported by a certified RAAB trainer and requires a local team and time commitment.

Surveys are carried out using RAAB7 methodology and software, which is the latest version of the RAAB survey. RAAB7 is delivered digitally and provides faster, more accurate and more insightful data collection and analysis than its predecessor.

Initial steps required to complete a RAAB survey:

  • Identify a local researcher as the Principal Investigator (PI) to lead the research.
  • The PI, with support from the International Centre for Eye Health (ICEH) at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, is responsible for gaining local ethics approval. A RAAB survey cannot commence until research ethics approval is in place. 
  • The PI works with a RAAB7 trainer (who is confirmed by ICEH as a certified RAAB7 trainer), to set-up the RAAB training week and data collection.

More information about conducting a RAAB, including necessary considerations, is available on the ICEH website.

If you are interested in carrying out a RAAB survey, please contact enquiries@raab.world.

A screener for St John Eye Hospital’s RAAB Team uses a smartphone to examine a patient in their own home near Hebron, the West Bank

A screener for St John Eye Hospital’s RAAB Team examines a patient, West Bank. Credit: St John Eye Hospital