We, a group of international eye care organisations, welcome the draft 14th General Programme of Work and commend the explicit recognition of eye health under the ‘health service coverage and financial protection’ strategic objective, outcome 4.1 on the need to scale up equity and access to services.

1.1 billion people are blind or visually impaired that could have been prevented or is yet to be addressed. Without increased action on access to eye health services, the number of people with avoidable vision impairment is projected to increase to 1.8billion by 2050.

We urge Member States and the WHO Secretariat to include within the results framework for the 14th GPW the two global eye care indicators endorsed at the World Health Assembly in 2021 namely,

40% increase in effective refractive error coverage and

30% increase in effective cataract surgical coverage.

These represent the two leading causes of avoidable blindness and represent two of the most cost-effective health interventions available. They offer a unique opportunity to track different aspects of progress towards UHC and the SDGs.

In 2022 baseline figures for these coverage indicators were launched. Effective cataract coverage was shown to be just 17% globally, and refractive error coverage at 36%, meaning at least two thirds of people aren’t receiving the quality services they need.

Effective refractive error coverage tracks how a health system functions across the life course. Everyone, at some point in their life will require treatment for refractive error, the majority of which can be treated with a simple pair of glasses. These services can be provided at primary care which aligns with the aim to radically reorientate towards a primary care approach.

Effective cataract surgical coverage is an excellent proxy indicator of access to surgical coverage, particularly for older populations as cataracts affect those over 50. It demonstrates a health system with a robust referral mechanism from primary care onwards.

Both indicators are effective coverage indicators measuring quality of outcomes, considered the gold standard for service coverage.