Accelerating for universal eye health

Vision if the most dominant of human senses. Impairment of Vision, affect all stages of life. Young children and older people being most vulnerable. Women, rural populations and ethnic minority groups are more likely to have vision impairment and least likely to access care. Impairment of vision impacts the achievement of Sustainable Goals and Universal Health.  Nearly 30% of the world’s 2.2 billion people with vision impairment live in the WHO South-East Asia region. The common causes of vision impairment in adults are uncorrected refractive error, cataract, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, corneal scarring, and trachoma.

Cataract is also the leading causes of blindness in the region. Despite the availability of cost-effective intervention in the form of cataract surgery, several barriers limit the update of services in the region. The main barriers to uptake of cataract surgery in the region include the cost of surgery, availability and quality of service, poor accessibility, lack of escort during travel and operations. The Action plan for integrated people-centred eye care in South-East Asia 2022–2030 (6), endorsed at the Seventy-fifth Regional Committee, envisions all people in the WHO South-East Asia Region as having equitable access to high-quality comprehensive eye services to achieve universal eye health by 2030. Since its launch at a High-level Meeting in Hyderabad, India, many countries have initiated actions to strengthen country-specific eye care action plans.

The Action plan for integrated people-centred eye care aims for:

• a 40-percentage point increase in effective coverage of refractive errors;
• a 30-percentage point increase in effective coverage of cataracts.
  
• at least 80% of people with diabetes being screened regularly for retinopathy and 80% of those identified with sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy to be treated by 2030; and
  
• to eliminate trachoma by 2025.