Report on the Assessment of National Eye Health Strategies
Report on the Assessment of National Eye Health Strategies on Inclusiveness and Health Equity for Persons with Disabilities.
The World Health Organization’s Global report on health equity for persons with disabilities (WHO Global report) published in 2022 is an important milestone for health equity, including equitable and inclusive eye health services. Using the report’s ‘targeted actions and strategic entry points’, CBM Global Disability Inclusion (CBM Global) and the SeeYou Foundation in 2023 set out to assess if and how current national eye health plans are in alignment with the report’s guidelines.
The main rationale behind the assessment was to gather evidence to understand where national eye health plans are with regards to equity in health for persons with disabilities. This evidence could then be used for targeted advocacy to strengthen future policy.
The methodology used in the assessment included a quantitizing 1 approach, using a traffic light system, which was used to evaluate the inclusiveness and level of health equity for persons with disabilities in national eye health plans. Overall, the results from the countries assessed showed there are a lot of areas for future improvements to align the national eye health plans with the WHO Global report, thereby achieving equitable eye health outcomes for persons with disabilities. A summary of the key findings of the assessment, including recommendations to make national eye health more equitable and inclusive for persons with disabilities, are detailed below:
