A moment of pure joy: welcoming global eye health leaders to Kathmandu

It was a great pleasure for me as the IAPB South East Asia – Regional Head and a citizen of Nepal to welcome all global eye health leaders which included the Ministry of health representatives to the historical city of Kathmandu last month. The proposal for this event was submitted to our Board in 2022 with persistent requests in subsequent events and board meetings.

We managed to have great participation from Nepal in IAPB global events in Dubai (2022), Singapore (2023 ) and Mexico (2024) to make the case to approve our proposal for the 2025 event. Finally, it was with great pleasure that I and IAPB members of Nepal welcomed the announcement that came forth in June 2024, when it was declared that the 2025 global event will be in Nepal.

The Health Secretary of Nepal formally extended his invitation to all global eye health leaders to come to Kathmandu in the closing ceremony in Mexico in 2024. I am proud to share that we were able to bring together over 800 delegates, in person and online, for 2030 IN SIGHT LIVE in Kathmandu in April 2025. The event underscores the urgency of shaping collective action to confront the global eye health crisis and tackle one of the world’s most pressing health challenges.

The event was inaugurated by the Right Honourable Prime Minister of Nepal Mr K P Oli. In his inaugural address he reaffirmed his support for IAPB’s Global Summit and said “Today, we do not gather to speak of eye health in isolation, but to recognise it as a central force in shaping the broader arc of human development — from poverty reduction and education to gender equality and economic growth… In Nepal, we have included eye health in our Voluntary National Review for precisely this reason.

We see the evidence, we see the urgency, and that which gets measured gets done.

We also see the opportunity.”

“But Nepal cannot walk this path alone. Nor can any country.

This is why the world must come together — not in words, but in unity, action, and shared responsibility. And so, today, I am proud to reaffirm Nepal’s full support for the Global Summit for Eye Health,” he added.

I believe our global event was successful in highlighting the need for a Global Summit to achieve the global targets on eye health to end avoidable sight loss.  The event also underscored the need for further political commitment, consolidated effort and leveraging multi sectoral collaborations to achieve these global targets toward universal eye health for all and galvanize enthusiasm for the Global Summit for Eye Health.

I would like to thank the local IAPB members, the hosts of the global event,  Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh, Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology, Nepal Eye Hospital and BP Eye Foundation for their persistent work to prepare the ground political movement and their support to make it a success.

Finally, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the IAPB board, CEO Peter Holland, Event Director Simon Darvill and all my IAPB colleagues, event team, logistic team, comm. team, programme team for their untiring work for the last nine months to make this event a success.

Thanks also goes to the Nepal Government, PM office, Federal Ministry of Health, Federal Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Health Bagmati Province and Lumbini Province for their collaborations and support for the event.

Thank you,

Yuddha Sapkota