Macular degeneration is the major cause of blindness in people over 50 in New Zealand - but eye specialists say revolutionary new treatments and raising awareness of the problem will help to overcome it. Professor Alan Bird is a world expert on the retina, whose work has spanned four decades. He is a consultant at the Institute of Ophthalmology at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London and is in Aotearoa this month as a guest of Macular Degeneration New Zealand.