The World Health Organisation has called for stronger integration of eye care into health systems, increased investment, and targeted strategies to improve access to quality vision services across African countries.
WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Mohamed Janabi, made the call in a message on Wednesday, commemorating World Sight Day, which will be observed globally on October 9, 2025.
Janabi said the day aimed to raise public awareness about the importance of eye health and promote action to reduce preventable vision loss and blindness, especially in low-resource settings.
He revealed that as of 2021, only 32 per cent of WHO Member States had developed a national policy specifically addressing vision loss and blindness, showing a gap in eye health prioritisation.
“This limited policy coverage reflects broader challenges in resource allocation and health planning for eye care.
“The existing levels of service coverage highlight the magnitude of unmet vision health needs,” he stated.
Janabi disclosed that effective cataract surgery coverage in the African Region stood at only 26 per cent, meaning just one in four affected individuals achieved a good visual outcome post-surgery.
“Similarly, effective coverage for refractive error correction, such as with eyeglasses, is estimated at 30 per cent, indicating one in three people with visual impairment have received appropriate vision correction.
“These figures underscore the urgent need for stronger health system integration, targeted investment, and people-centred strategies to ensure everyone can access quality eye care services,” he said.
Janabi emphasised that good vision significantly impacted well-being, education, productivity, and employment, while vision impairment remained a major public health concern expected to increase without urgent intervention.
He acknowledged that Africa had made progress in reducing vision loss from diseases like trachoma, vitamin A deficiency, and onchocerciasis, but new challenges were rapidly emerging across the continent.
“These include ageing populations, poor eye health awareness, unhealthy diets, sedentary lifestyles, and the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases that increase risk of cataracts and refractive errors.
“To tackle this growing challenge, several strategic global initiatives have been introduced, including Vision 2020: The Right to Sight, which aimed to eliminate avoidable blindness,” he explained.
Janabi said the Vision 2020 initiative focused on scaling up affordable, sustainable cataract services and strengthening national capacities to eliminate preventable blindness by establishing eye health infrastructure and skilled workforce. (Punch)
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