The Executive Board decided in Decision EB130(1) that a follow-up action plan for the prevention of avoidable blindness and visual impairment for the period 2014-2019 should be developed. The Board requested the Director-General to develop a draft action plan for the prevention of avoidable blindness and visual impairment for the period 2014-2019 in close consultation with Member States and international partners, and to submit this draft action plan for consideration, through the Executive Board at its 132nd session, to the Sixty-sixth World Health Assembly in 2013.
A web-based consultation was run between 24 February and 16 March 2012. Member States and international partners were invited to respond to a series of questions regarding the current 2009-2013 action plan and what should go into the draft of the 2014-2019 action plan.
A Discussion Paper is now available on the link below for comment. It reflects the responses received to the recent web-based consultation and recent thinking within WHO on the experience of implementing the 2009-2013 Action Plan. Feedback can be submitted by Friday, 18 May 2012.
Responses will help the Secretariat to work with Member States and international partners on an initial draft of the action plan 2014-2019. The draft will be made available for consultation on the WHO web site. The Secretariat plans to host a meeting in Geneva later in the year to review the first draft before preparing a final draft text for submission to the Executive Board at its 132nd session.
Vision 2020 Australia will prepare a response focusing on addressing sector wide issues that are likely to have broad impact.