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This year’s World Health Assembly (WHA78) has been an extraordinary journey for me—one that combined advocacy, diplomacy, and deep collaboration with partners across the world. It’s not every day that you get to speak at the United Nations, let alone deliver a statement on behalf of a powerful global constituency committed to preventing avoidable blindness and hearing loss.
I had the honour of delivering the constituency statement during the discussion on Agenda Item 13.1—noncommunicable diseases—on behalf of a coalition that included IAPB, CBM, OPC, Sightsavers, The Fred Hollows Foundation, World Blind Union, the International Society of Audiology, and the International Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies.
In our statement, we celebrated the Member States’ leadership in advancing a groundbreaking resolution on the prevention and integrated care for sensory impairments. With over 2.2 billion people affected by vision impairment and 1.5 billion by hearing loss, the resolution marks a major step toward inclusive, people-centered care within primary health systems. We called for these issues to be fully reflected in the upcoming Fourth High-Level Political Declaration on Non Communicable Diseases, and reinforced our commitment to leave no one behind.
But the momentum didn’t stop there.
I also had the privilege of leading the coordination of our official WHA78 side event, “Eye Health Has 2030 In Sight: New Data, New Resolution, New Momentum”. From applying for the official venue and coordinating with the WHO Secretariat, to shaping the agenda, coordinating with speakers and managing the logistics—this event was a labour of love. And the results were worth every moment.
The event hosted by Paraguay, Malaysia and Slovakia together with CBM launched new global data on refractive error, showcased WHO’s newly released suite of eye health tools, spotlighted the WHA resolution on sensory impairments, and introduced the Policy Framework for the 2026 Global Summit for Eye Health. It was standing-room only—a true testament to the growing energy around eye health and its rightful place in universal health coverage discussions.
I’m deeply grateful to everyone who made this week what it was—from co-hosting governments to passionate speakers, our dedicated team at IAPB, and our global partners who champion this cause every day.
WHA78 reminded me why advocacy matters. When we show up with evidence, unity, and purpose, we can help shape the global health agenda—and ensure that millions of people living with vision and hearing impairments are seen, heard, and included.
