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Join IAPBThe year 2020 didn’t turn out to be what we expected. The COVID-19 pandemic upended our plans (with respect to World Report on Vision launches, GA2020 and many others) and eye health services. However, the sector rallied and we had what can be called as wins. Despite this drastic turn of events, in Africa we still managed to achieve several great outcomes integral to our pursuit of strengthened eye health in the region.
The East, Central and Southern Africa Health Community 69th Health Ministers Conference was held in February 2020 under the theme: “Innovation and Accountability in Health Towards Achieving Universal Health Coverage.
At the end of the Health Minister’s Conference, the Ministers considered and passed resolutions which included ECSA/HMC69/R1: Equity and Access to Eye Health in the ECSA region. This resolution urges Member States to:
Additionally, the resolution directs the ECSA HC Secretariat to:
IAPB will continue to work with our partners in the ECSA-HC expert committee on eye health with its remit to raise and sustain the eye health agenda high at regional and national level in the ECSA-HC member states.
In January, the 10th Annual Meeting of Health Information Systems national managers, Technical and Financial Partners was organised by the West African Health Organization (WAHO).
During a session dedicated to Eye Health, IAPB presented on the WHO Catalogue of Key Eye Health Indicators in the African Region and advocated for the integration of Eye Health Indicators into national Health Information Management Systems.
The following key recommendations on Eye Health are part of the broader set of recommendations coming out of the meeting:
Moving forward, IAPB and WAHO will continue to work with member states and partners to identify and agree on 2-3 essential eye health indicators for integration into national Health Information Management Systems in the region. We will also support the implementation of the Eye Health data collection and reporting.
In 2018 WHO AFRO published The Primary Eye Care training manual.
In 2019, IAPB supported WHO AFRO in sensitising the Anglophone and Francophone countries of Africa on the PEC manual. In February 2020, the Lusophone countries[1] were orientated on the training manual, following its translation into Portuguese.
The WHO AFRO NCD cluster held a two-day Orientation Meeting in Maputo, Mozambique, attended by Primary Care Unit Heads/Public Health Department Directors, National Eye Care Coordinators and Eye Health Partners of the Lusophone countries in the Region in order to support them in implementing the training manual at national level and to develop a plan its implementation.
Country representatives were encouraged to advocate for the implementation of the PEC Training Manual upon their return to their countries. The success in Rwanda was highlighted as an example that PEC could be strengthened and indeed implemented at the national level.
Other activities in 2020
The challenges of this year did however present new opportunities. We scaled up our online engagement with members and partners resulting in valuable interaction around dealing with COVID-19 in the eye health sector by way of virtual, group exchanges and a series of multi-lingual webinars. We also undertook the development of a system’s strengthening review, planning and advocacy framework called a Multisectoral Systems Review to support African countries fulfill the World Report on Vision obligation to: Engage in Integrated People Centred Eye Care.
Looking ahead
In the coming year, 2021, we are looking to focus our efforts on implementing the recommendations of the World Report on Vision across the region by engaging with our sub-regional and national level partners with a view on moving closer to the goal of an integrated people-centred eye care that will accelerate universalization of health care services and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
[1] Mozambique, Cape Verde, Angola, Sao Tome and Principe and Guinea Bissau
Image: Saving vision by James Arnold