Clear vision allows children to learn, adults to earn a living and older people to retain their independence. Yet, millions of people across Africa live with vision loss that could have been prevented or treated.

Today, on World Sight Day 2026, I call on governments, partners, health workers and communities to accelerate efforts to bring affordable, quality eye care within everyone's reach.

Uncorrected refractive errors and cataracts are the leading causes of vision loss in the African Region. Proven and cost-effective interventions are available for both, but coverage is still far too low. Only about 30% of people who need spectacles receive correction that restores good vision, while effective cataract surgical coverage is estimated at around 24%.

These figures reflect the daily experiences of children who struggle to read in school, adults whose livelihoods are affected, and older people who lose their independence because they cannot get a pair of spectacles, or the surgery they need.

WHO launched the SPECS 2030 initiative in 2024 to help countries close one of these gaps by expanding access for refractive errors. It brings together action to improve services, build the eye health workforce, increase public awareness, reduce costs and strengthen surveillance.

Countries across our Region are beginning to translate this approach into practice. Since 2025, The Gambia, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa and Zambia have advanced SPECS 2030 with support from WHO and partners. They are assessing national needs, establishing coordination mechanisms, developing policies and operational plans, and strengthening the collection of eye health data. Mauritania, for example, has developed a national eye health strategy for 2026-2029.

This progress is encouraging, but considerable gaps persist. Services and trained personnel are often concentrated in larger towns and cities, leaving people in rural and underserved communities with long distances to travel, and costs they cannot afford.

Integrating eye health into primary health care can help detect vision problems earlier and connect people with treatment closer to home. Countries also need reliable data to identify underserved populations, improve services and measure whether treatment is restoring people's sight.

This work will support progress towards the global targets for 2030, which call for a 40 percentage point increase in effective coverage of refractive error services, and a 30 percentage point increase in effective cataract surgery coverage.

On this World Sight Day, I urge Member States to pay eye health greater attention in national health plans, invest in the workforce and accelerate implementation of SPECS 2030. I also call on development partners, professional associations, academic institutions, civil society and the private sector to support country-led efforts and help remove the barriers that place essential care beyond the reach of so many people.

As WHO, we are committed to working alongside Member States to strengthen eye health systems and advance the global targets.

A pair of spectacles or timely cataract surgery can change the course of a person's life. Together, we can ensure that preventable vision loss no longer limits the education, livelihoods and independence of people across Africa.

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