The World Health Assembly (WHA) is an annual gathering of all the world’s health ministers and a key opportunity for advocates to be seen and heard on their respective health issues. This year, the theme of the WHA was “Health for All” and as such there was a strong focus on closing the gap and…
There is a global shortage of health care workforce, and this is especially acute in Africa. According to the WHO, nurses and midwives represent more than 50% of the current shortage in health workers. The shortage is also massive in the eye care sector, with a huge demand for ophthalmic nurses across the continent. A…
The theme of this year’s World Health Day is universal health coverage (UHC). Momentum is building around universal health coverage, that is, health for all without suffering financial hardship, with many countries around the world taking steps to achieve it. Eye health has historically not been conceived as being central to healthcare, the priority has…
2019 is a big year for health. The forthcoming High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) will be a great opportunity for world leaders to ensure that steps towards accelerating health for all are genuinely taken. (Read Sightsavers’ take on the Africa Health International Conference and the Africa Health Forum.) Through the 2030 Agenda, countries…
When we talk about eye care as an urgent global health problem, we often break the issue down into segments of need. We talk about the unmet need and the right of all people living with avoidable blindness to access known eye care treatments, like cataract surgery or a pair of glasses. We talk about…
In February, IAPB, in collaboration with the WHO AFRO Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) programme held a two-day Orientation Meeting in Accra, Ghana, with country representatives from Anglophone [1]countries in the sub-Saharan Africa Region in order to support them in implementing the use of the Primary Eye Care Training Manual at national level, thus building and strengthening…
WHO has unveiled a landmark reform that targets primary care for billions of people. This “back-to-basics” targets one billion people in support of WHO’s top priority, Universal Health Coverage(UHC). At the same time, a Resolution on Community Health Workers is to be considered at the upcoming World Health Assembly to accelerate progress on UHC and…
WHO Afro has released the Core competencies for the Eye Health Workforce in the WHO African region. Given the shortage of human resources for eye health, and in line with the WHO approach to task shifting or sharing, this policy document is a unique contribution to detailing the competencies required of a range of eye…
As both VISION 2020 and the current Global Action Plan on Universal Eye Health draw to a close and with plenty new evidence of the real burden of eye disease (see the IAPB Vision Atlas), WHO is opening up the consultation on what comes next with the draft World Report on Vision, moving the agenda…
Universal Health Coverage (UHC) has been gaining increasing support in recent years. Successive World Health Organization Director Generals have made UHC a priority and it was formally recognized in the Sustainable Development Goal 3.8, which calls for “achievement of universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to…
IAPB is a strong believer and advocate for Universal Health Coverage and supporter of UHCDay. We must all work to ensure that people have access to health services including eye health (all the way from promotion to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care) without having to make horrific choices, such as which child/family member gets…
Breaking down barriers for poor and marginalised to access services The boy was about 13 years old. He was blind in both eyes. When examined by the eye doctor, the diagnosis was that the most probable cause was a specific type of conjunctivitis, a condition not difficult to treat when timely care is provided. I…
IAPB is an associate member of the International Disability and Development Consortium. IAPB has been working with the IDDC for the past few years alongside some IAPB members promoting the rights of persons with disability, including persons with visual impairment. We have been and continue to be active on the IDDC UN task group including in…
The IAPB 10th General Assembly was a great opportunity to come together, share knowledge and strengthen alliances. You can now access the three Symposia videos, below: Symposium 1: Better health for Africa: the critical shortage of health workers Symposium 1: Better health for Africa: the critical shortage of health workers from IAPB on Vimeo. …
The Regional Action Plan for Universal Eye Health in the Western Pacific urges governments to ensure that “essential eye-care, low vision and rehabilitation services are included in national health financing approaches for universal health coverage” and calls on international partners to advocate for coverage of eye-care services by insurance schemes.
On 25 September the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development [French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian, Chinese] was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. The Agenda 2030 includes the following sections: (1) Preamble, (2) Declaration, (3) Sustainable Development Goals and targets, (4) Means of Implementation and the Global Partnership, and (5) Follow Up and Review. The…
Re-posted with permission from the IAPB Western Pacific blog. In early July, eye health experts from across Asia and the Pacific gathered in Hanoi for a 5-day short course to workshop ways to strengthen health systems, improve eye health and work towards Universal Health Coverage. Held at Hanoi School of Public Health, the course…
I am delighted to note – as I am sure you are – that a new report jointly authored by the WHO and the World Bank includes Cataract Surgical Coverage (CSC) as a ‘promising’ indicator for monitoring Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Firstly, it’s a fantastic report; strong research, keen arguments and accessible to a wide(r)…
Join IAPB and hundreds of organisations around the world who have signed up to universal health coverage (UHC) day on the 12th December. The push for UHC creates a major opportunity to radically improve health access and outcomes for all people everywhere, tackling the gross health inequalities that persist. In effect UHC accounts for the…
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