The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) today announced that fourteen leading eye care and development organisations – including private-sector companies and major charities – will serve as High Impact Partners supporting the first-ever Global Summit for Eye Health.
The government of Antigua and Barbuda will host the Global Summit for Eye Health and Bangladesh, Guyana and Nigeria were officially announced as co-hosts at the United Nations in July.
Organised by the IAPB in technical collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), the Summit will bring together heads of government, ministers, international organisations, advocates, and private-sector leaders in Antigua & Barbuda on 2 November 2026.
The partner’s contributions will help unite these leaders and experts to drive evidence-based action and create sustainable progress toward ending avoidable sight loss for over 1 billion people affected by vision impairment worldwide.
The High Impact Partners have also helped shape the St John's Global Compact for Eye Health – the first global multi-stakeholder agreement on eye health that brings governments, international institutions, charities and the private sector behind a shared agenda for action. Alongside national governments and other organisations, the partners will also unveil eye health commitments at the Summit, setting out how they will help improve eye health and access to eye care around the world in coming years.
Honourable Minister of Health, Michael Joseph, Antigua and Barbuda, said: “Antigua and Barbuda is proud to host the world’s first Global Summit for Eye Health and to welcome leaders from across governments, international organisations, and the private sector to our shores. Sight is fundamental to education, employment, health and economic opportunity, yet more than one billion people worldwide continue to live with avoidable or treatable vision impairment.
“The commitment shown by our Partners demonstrates the power of collaboration in addressing one of the world’s most pressing public health challenges. By bringing together expertise, innovation and resources from across sectors, we have an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate progress toward universal access to quality eye care.”
Peter Holland, CEO, IAPB, commented: “We welcome the support of our High Impact Partners in the first Global Summit for Eye Health and look forward to collaborating further to drive lasting change worldwide. No government or sector can achieve this alone. Only by working together like this can we deliver eye care services at the scale and speed needed to end avoidable or treatable sight loss.”
Vision loss represents a significant and rapidly growing public health challenge but is one that can be effectively addressed given that over 90% of cases are preventable or treatable through low-cost interventions such as glasses and cataract surgery.
IAPB research shows that if action was taken to reach the 1 billion people living with avoidable sight loss, the boost to the world economy would be $447 billion annually. It would result in 13 million extra years of schooling, 22 million more people employed, and 304 million people relieved of unpaid caregiving, predominantly women.
The historic Global Summit for Eye Health is the first-ever global gathering focused on eye health as a development and economic priority, not just a medical issue.
The High Impact Partners for the first Global Summit for Eye health are:
