Call on UN to tackle vision

Sixty-three countries have written letters to UN secretary-general António Guterres calling on him to create a special envoy on vision.

The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), said the special envoy would build on the ‘significant momentum developed around eye health over the past three years’ and enable a global advocate to lead the implementation of the 2021 UN General Assembly resolution on ‘vision for everyone’.

It would coordinate with UN agencies, including the World Health Organization, and mobilise action at national levels.

In parallel, the IAPB coordinated a letter from 152 CEOs of global eye health organisations that backed the call for the appointment of a special envoy on vision.