A new World Health Organization (WHO) guide on eye care was recently launched at the event - Universal Health Coverage and Eye Care: Promoting Country Action - attended by government officials, WHO representatives and non-governmental organizations in the eye care sector.

The Eye Care in Health Systems: Guide for Action provides practical, step-by-step, guidance to support Member States in planning and implementing the recommendations of the World report on vision with the goal to provide integrated people-centred eye care services.

This new resource leads Member States through a four-step process: situation analysis; development of an eye care strategic plan and monitoring framework; development and implementation of an operational plan; and establishing and maintaining ongoing review processes.

Currently, more than 2 billion people are living with a vision impairment and of these, at least 1 billion people are needlessly living with poor vision due to lack of access to eye care services. This burden is not borne equally: 90 percent of people with vision impairment or blindness live in low- and middle-income countries. Often, all that is needed is a cost-effective intervention, such as a pair of spectacles or cataract surgery.