A Vision for Vision: Investing in Eye Health

Sarah Beeching on the panel at INSIGHT LIVE 2030

From 29 April to 1 May the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) convened partners from over 50 countries in Nepal for INSIGHT LIVE 2030. The focus was how to advance national implementation of the UN General Assembly resolution ‘Vision for Everyone’. One in four people are affected by vision impairment, and 1.1 billion live with preventable or treatable sight loss.  A further 100 million require cataract surgery to restore their sight. The poorest and most vulnerable are disproportionately affected.

Investing in eye health yields significant returns

A 2023 report by The Fred Hollows Foundation demonstrates that investments in eye health offer among the highest investment returns of any disease intervention. Investment in the two leading causes of blindness and vision impairment will return on average USD9.40 for every US dollar spent, with cataract surgery returning on average USD20.50.

Identifying practical and scalable financing solutions that leverage diverse financial streams, including health, education, labour, and development budgets, to support national eye health strategies is critical. Nepal has led the way, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, spoke at INSIGHT LIVE to commit his government to include eye care as part of the national health insurance scheme, widening access to critical services.

Sarah Beeching, Executive Director of Oshun Partnership, has been supporting IAPB to develop their strategy to elevate the issue of eye health up the political agenda.  Making the case for investment in eye health will be a critical step.  Showing the gains to productivity, learning for children, mental health and quality of life later in life is a crucial first step.  She shared experiences from three financing conferences held by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), a World Bank Trust Fund, and the seminal Nutrition for Growth Summit that she was responsible for leading.

Key lessons:

• Make the case for investment not in the abstract but through individual and national stories and concrete policies linked to economic growth.

• Focus on issues that resonate politically.  For education this was about girls, because inequality in access was stark and the gains to be made were proportionately greater. 

• Highlight where there are quick and tangible gains to be made and bottleneck issues that must be resolved to achieve progress. GPE focused on learning, because whilst being in school is important, it’s what you learn that matters. For Nutrition for Growth (2013) we had to redefine the narrative to focus not just on under nutrition but on micro-nutrient deficiencies which are responsible for stunting.

• Make yourselves indispensable in conversations about your subject, always focusing on data and results.
  

By far the biggest achievement in education and nutrition was that the case was made for national investment. This did not mean that foreign support or technology to leapfrog development was not sometimes essential, but when politicians know they will be able to claim credit for success and in a that can be a compelling reason for investing in the issue.