Global Eye Health Summit Reports 200 Commitments, Including Pledges on Children’s Vision and Access to Glasses
Wednesday, November 4 2026 | 09 h 19 min | News
The inaugural Global Summit for Eye Health concluded in St John’s, Antigua and Barbuda, with the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) reporting 200 commitments from governments and other organizations.
IAPB said 95 commitments focus on children’s eye health and 88 address access to glasses. The announced pledges include 68 million pairs of glasses and 13 million cataract surgeries. These are commitments for future action; the announcement does not mean the services or products have already been delivered.
The commitments include UNICEF support for governments in 25 countries to strengthen and expand children’s vision screening through health, education and community systems. IAPB also said 42 governments committed to expanding access to affordable, quality glasses, while 35 pledged regulatory and fiscal changes to improve access to screening and ready-made reading glasses, including through the removal of tariffs and taxes.
Bangladesh, China, Nigeria, Kenya and Antigua and Barbuda were named as the first countries participating in the World Health Organization’s SEE 2045 Cataract Elimination Initiative, which aims to eliminate cataract as a public health problem by 2045.
The second wave of commitments builds on more than US$1 billion in government commitments announced earlier at the Summit to strengthen eye health systems and expand access to care. IAPB said 143 non-government stakeholders also made commitments. They include private companies, non-governmental organizations, professional and regulatory bodies, academic and research institutions, health facilities, philanthropic organizations, and international organizations. The commitments cover areas such as expanding service delivery, spectacle distribution and training for frontline health workers.
The impact of the commitments will depend on their implementation in the years ahead. IAPB says the pledges are intended to strengthen eye health systems and expand access to care.
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