WHAT IS IAPB?

In the mid-1970s the late Sir John Wilson amongst others, began to draw the international community’s attention to the problem of global blindness. These efforts led to the setting up of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) on January 1, 1975, with Sir John Wilson as the Founder President. The founding members were the World Blind Union (WBU) and the International Federation of Ophthalmological Societies (IFOS/ICO).

IAPB was established as a coordinating, umbrella organization to lead an international effort in mobilizing resources for blindness prevention activities. IAPB aspired to link professional bodies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), educational institutions and interested individuals with national programs for the prevention of blindness.

The first major achievement of IAPB was to promote the establishment of a WHO Prevention of Blindness and Visual Impairment team, with which it then entered into an official relationship.