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In Touch: Gene therapy on the NHS, The RNIB Reading Service, Blind architecture

18/02/2020

Gene therapy on the NHS, The RNIB Reading Service, Blind architecture

BBC Radio 4 - In Touch, Gene therapy on the NHS, The RNIB Reading Service, Blind architecture

A new gene therapy which can restore some sight becomes available on the NHS.

A new gene therapy becomes available on the NHS - we speak to Professor James Bainbridge fresh from performing the operation.

Voretigene Neparvovec – is the first in a new generation of gene therapies which can be injected into the eyes of patients - and it's available on the NHS. 
It's a major development for people with the inherited retinal disorder Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis (LCA), but as ever, we want to get to the real implications for blind people. Fresh from performing one of the newly-available procedures, Professor James Bainbridge tells us exactly who it can help.

And there are changes ahead for the RNIB Reading Service, as it shifts from the old Overdrive system. We talk to Jackie Brown who has been testing the new system, and the RNIB's Alison Long who assures us the changes won't affect those who rely on postal delivery rather than technology. 

And we catch up on the course Architecture Beyond Sight for blind and visually impaired people. Zoe Partington of Disordinary Architecture tells us more, and artist Fae Kilburn tells us about her experience of studying the built environment and why it can be a difficult place for the partially sighted. 

The course has inspired us to ask for your suggestions of developments or buildings which are rotten to navigate if you're blind or VI. Send your suggestions to intcouch@bbc.co.uk

Presented by Peter White
Produced by Kevin Core

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