World Health Assembly: A major step forward for sensory health

At the 78th World Health Assembly (19-27 May 2025), Member States endorsed a landmark resolution on “Primary prevention and integrated care for sensory impairments, including vision impairment and hearing loss.” This resolution marks a significant step in the global effort to improve access to essential care for people with sensory impairments and reinforces commitments to Universal Health Coverage. The resolution was led by Slovakia, with co-sponsorship from eight other countries: Bangladesh, Georgia, Hungary, Micronesia, Japan, Panama, Romania, and Somalia.  

The resolution acknowledges the growing global burden of vision impairment and hearing loss, highlighting their disproportionate prevalence in low- and middle-income countries, Small Island Developing States and settings affected by different emergencies. It has also emphasized that many causes of sensory impairments are preventable through access to primary care services and strengthened public health interventions.  

Key highlights include: 

• Reaffirmation of earlier WHA resolutions on Integrated People-centred Eye Care, hearing loss, disability, rehabilitation, and assistive technology 

• A call for countries to implement recommendations from the World Report on Vision and World Report on Hearing 

• Strong emphasis on integrating eye and hearing care into national health plans, particularly primary health care and health benefit packages, inlcuding strengthening sustainability of financing mechanisms for spectacles 

• Recognition of the availability of cost-effective and good quality interventions such as cataract surgery and assitive technologies like spectacles, hearing aids, implants; and rehabilitative services like sign language interpreters and Braille literacy 

• The resolution supports the implementation of MyopiaEd, continued observation of World Sight Day, recognition of SPECS 2030 as a global collaboration platform, and the importance of data collection to track progress toward global eye health targets. 

Read the full resolution here: WHA78 Resolution on Sensory impairments 

IAPB delivered a constituency statement for this resolution at the World Health Assembly. We commended WHO and member states’ commitment for the eye, ear and hearing care while reaffirming our support in implementation.