Edward Samuel, Abuja
As the world observes World Sight Day 2025, the World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for renewed and sustained efforts to tackle preventable vision loss and ensure equitable access to quality eye care across the African Region.
Marked annually on the second Thursday of October, World Sight Day aims to raise global awareness about the importance of eye health and the urgent need to prevent avoidable blindness and visual impairment.
Good eyesight, WHO noted, contributes significantly to well-being, educational achievement, employment opportunities, and economic productivity.
The Organisation said vision impairment remains a growing public health challenge, with cases projected to rise without deliberate and coordinated interventions.
In his message to commemorate the day, Dr. Mohamed Yakub Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said the region had made notable progress in reducing vision loss caused by conditions such as vitamin A deficiency, onchocerciasis, and trachoma.
However, he warned that new challenges are emerging due to aging populations, unhealthy lifestyles, environmental changes, and rising non-communicable diseases, factors that have increased preventable vision impairment from conditions like cataracts and refractive errors.
“To effectively address these growing challenges, we must strengthen health systems, expand access to affordable eye care, and promote healthy living habits that prevent vision impairment,” Dr. Janabi emphasized.
He highlighted major global efforts, including the Vision 2020: The Right to Sight initiative, which focused on eliminating avoidable blindness, and the World Health Assembly Decision WHA74(12) adopted in 2021.
The decision urged countries to adopt integrated, people-centred eye care and set ambitious global targets, raising coverage for refractive error correction by 40 percentage points and cataract surgery by 30 percentage points by 2030.
Dr. Janabi also drew attention to the SPECS 2030 initiative launched by WHO in June 2024, which envisions universal access to quality and affordable refractive error services by 2030.
“The initiative focuses on strengthening service delivery, expanding the eye health workforce, raising awareness, and improving surveillance systems.
“Eight African Member States have begun implementing this framework, with some developing national work plans and engaging stakeholders,” he said.
Despite these advances, the WHO reports that only 32% of African countries have developed national eye health policies.
Effective cataract surgery coverage stands at just 26%, and refractive error correction coverage is about 30%, meaning millions remain underserved.
Dr. Janabi described these figures as a call to action for governments to prioritize eye health as an integral part of universal health coverage.
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He urged countries to develop and fund national eye health strategies, integrate sensory care and assistive technologies into health benefit packages, and invest in training and retaining eye health professionals.
He also encouraged the use of WHO’s digital innovations, such as WHO Eyes, a free smartphone app for vision screening to promote early detection and strengthen advocacy.
Dr. Janabi further appealed to individuals to take personal responsibility for their eye health by undergoing regular eye examinations, seeking timely medical care, and adopting healthy lifestyle habits.
“Through collective action, from governments, partners, and individuals, we can ensure that preventable blindness becomes a thing of the past in Africa,” he added.
World Sight Day 2025 serves as a reminder that protecting vision is essential for health, productivity, and quality of life, and that everyone has a role to play in achieving the goal of a continent free from avoidable blindness.