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IAPB is celebrating Bloomberg Philanthropies’ recent landmark launch of its new Vision Initiative, a $75 million US Dollars investment in global eye health. This powerful contribution will help strengthen equitable access to eye care services worldwide and provide catalytic investment that will improve the eye health of millions of people who currently don’t have access.
Avoidable sight loss and vision impairment remain profound barriers to health, education, and economic opportunity, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where access to essential eye care is often limited. Bloomberg Philanthropies’ investment will bolster efforts across the sector, including at IAPB, where funding will help amplify eye health awareness initiatives, unlock opportunities to harness data and shape more impactful programmes, and foster bold collaboration amongst stakeholders to ensure collective efforts achieve the greatest result.
The Vision Initiative will help restore and expand access to vision screenings, cataract surgeries, and eyeglasses for millions of people in the United States and low- and middle-income countries, including Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Nigeria.
“We are delighted by Bloomberg Philanthropies’ landmark investment in eye health at such a significant scale and critical moment. This partnership will foster innovation, scale interventions and expand access to eye health services across the world,” says Peter Holland, CEO of IAPB. “Preventing sight loss is one of the most powerful, untapped opportunities to improve quality of life, spur economic growth, bolster education and meet global development targets. Bloomberg’s investment comes at a pivotal moment, enabling the sector to turn new evidence into action. IAPB’s new research shows, for the first time, the huge economic return that is possible with targeted investment. The Value of Vision report outlines that investment in eye health could boost low- and middle-income countries’ economies by almost $450billion each year.”
“As many as one billion people live with a condition that is an enormous obstacle to success in school and careers: poor vision. And in most cases, it can be easily fixed,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies, WHO Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries, and 108th mayor of New York City. “Through our new Vision Initiative, we’re teaming up with experts to expand access to screenings, eyeglasses, and cataract surgeries – and empower millions more people to fulfil their potential.”
IAPB is proud to join Bloomberg Philanthropies and other partners in this initiative to transform eye health outcomes and address critical gaps in eye health services, awareness and access to care, especially focusing on Uncorrected Refractive Error and Cataract.
Partners in the Bloomberg Philanthropies Vision Initiative include: Warby Parker, Sightsavers, VisionSpring, RestoringVision, Vision To Learn, the Fred Hollows Foundation, Aravind Eye Care System, Orbis, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Wilmer Eye Institute, and the World Health Organization.
