Introducing IAPB and VISION 2020

The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness was established in 1975 to lead international efforts for blindness prevention. 1999 saw the launch of the Agency’s flagship initiative
VISION 2020: The Right to Sight,
a 50:50 partnership with the
World Health Organization (WHO).

IAPB has members who are based in, or are active in 7 world regions – Latin America, North America, Africa, Europe, Eastern Mediterranean, South East Asia and Western Pacific. With more than 100 members and a partnership with WHO, IAPB is best placed to ensure that avoidable blindness receives adequate attention in the global health agenda. With numerous health issues, pandemics like Swine Flu, and many other health conditions vying for our attention there is every danger that avoidable blindness could slip away from global consciousness – resulting in the number of blind people growing to 76 million by the year 2020. VISION 2020 provides the best means possible to avert such an outcome.

In this post and more to come, we will use pictures and links to the VISION 2020 website to highlight stories from around the world that are of interest to me and that I hope will be of interest to you, too...

Peter Ackland,
Chief Executive Officer, IAPB