IAPB Honoured with 2025 António Champalimaud Vision Award 

IAPB, the global alliance for the eye health sector, has been named one of the three recipients of the prestigious 2025 António Champalimaud Vision Award, one of the world’s largest scientific and humanitarian prizes in the field of vision. 

The award recognises IAPB’s sustained leadership in uniting governments, academic institutions, health professionals, with nearly 300 member organisations from more than 100 countries to advance universal eye health. Through global advocacy, a stronger systems approach, and partnership promotion, IAPB works to elevate eye care as a priority and drive progress toward ending avoidable sight loss. 

 “Extraordinary progress has been made by our members in recent years to tackle avoidable sight loss, but our most important work lies before us,” said Peter Holland, Chief Executive of IAPB. “We are honoured to receive this award, the prize money will be used to  support our work in continuing to make the case for eye care globally including supporting the first-ever Global Summit for Eye Health, planned for late 2026, which will bring together leaders from around the world to drive meaningful action.” 

IAPB’s advocacy has delivered landmark achievements in recent years. It led the first-ever UN General Assembly resolution on vision, adopted unanimously by 193 Member States, and secured the first global targets for cataract surgery and refractive error coverage at the 74th World Health Assembly in 2021.  

Dr. Babar Qureshi, Chair of IAPB, added: “The Champalimaud Award not only recognises our past achievements but also serves as a powerful call to action, highlighting the importance of regional and global collaboration to prioritise eye health. With a considerable growth in membership over the past 10 years, IAPB is continuing to become stronger than ever to shape the global agenda and drive systemic improvements in eye care worldwide.” 

IAPB shares this honour with two of its members; Lions Clubs International Foundation (SightFirst Program) and The Fred Hollows Foundation, both recognised for their sustained contributions to eliminating avoidable blindness and visual impairment. LCIF, through its SightFirst Program, has delivered eye care at scale worldwide, while The Fred Hollows Foundation has brought sight-restoring care to marginalised communities and strengthened national health systems.