Don't miss out - secure your spot today!
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Dear Nawet,

We are pleased to invite you to a World Health Assembly side event, The Value of Vision: The Roadmap to the Global Summit for Eye Health.

Event information:

  • Date and Time : Tuesday, 19 May 2026 | 13:00 - 14:20 CET
  • Venue: Online and Garden Room T, WHO Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland

Co-sponsored by the Governments of the United Kingdom and Malaysia, alongside Sightsavers and co-organised by IAPB, CBM Christian Blind Mission and The Fred Hollows Foundation, this side event will bring together Ministers of Health, senior government officials, and global partners to build political momentum toward the first-ever Global Summit for Eye Health,  which is to be be hosted by the Government of Antigua and Barbuda alongside the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in November 2026. 

The side-event will help catalyse political momentum at the World Health Assembly, with Member States signalling national commitments on eye health in Geneva, drawing on WHO tools and stakeholder-led initiatives for elevation to Heads of State at the Global Summit.

Highlights of the event:

  • High-level opening remarks
  • Keynote interventions from government and multilateral leaders
  • A WHO technical briefing on new cataract and refractive error guidance
  • A panel discussion on aligning eye health with national priorities and commitments.

In-person attendance requires either a WHA delegate badge or a WHO special badge. Due to limited seats, attending in-person is by invitation only.

If you are attending WHA and would like to express your interest in joining, or have any questions, please feel free to contact Junu Shrestha, Senior Policy and Advocacy Manager at IAPB, jshrestha@iapb.org.

Click here to register for the online event !

Associated resources for reference

Value of Vision: The case for investing in eye health

 The recently published report highlights how  every $1 invested in eye health in LMICs yields $28 in returns.

A $7.1 billion investment in six priority areas, from community screenings and eye exams to access to reading and prescription glasses, and scaling up cataract surgery, could unlock a $199 billion boost to productivity in just five years (2026–2030). 

Click here to read more. 

Global Summit for Eye Health

The Government of Antigua and Barbuda, in technical collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), will host the first ever Global Summit for Eye Health. 

The Summit will convene senior leaders from government, private and public sectors, NGO’s and funding institutions to help reach the 1 billion people living with avoidable sight-loss.

Click here to know more. 


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