Eye conditions are remarkably common and many eye conditions can lead to vision impairment, including blindness. Those who live long enough will experience at least one eye condition during their lifetime. Globally, at least 2.2 billion people have a vision impairment. In at least 1 billion – or almost half – of these cases, vision impairment could have been prevented or has yet to be addressed. 

The work of WHO’s Eye care, vision impairment and blindness programme is guided by World Health Assembly resolutions WHA78.7 Primary prevention and integrated care for sensory impairments, WHA73.4 Integrated, people-centred eye care and the recommendations of the WHO World report on vision (2019). The strategic recommendations and technical tools provided by WHO aim to assist Member States and their partners in reducing the burden of eye conditions and vision impairment while working towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG target 3.8 on universal health coverage.  

The two main causes of vision impairment are unoperated cataract and uncorrected refractive error. Given the large unmet need for cataract surgery and refractive error care, coupled with the fact that highly cost-effective interventions exist for these conditions, two global targets on effective coverage of eye care for 2030 were endorsed at the World Health Assembly in 2021. These targets aim to improve eye health coverage while ensuring quality care.