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Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex, Global Ambassador for the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), is visiting Qatar with global sight loss charity Orbis, from Monday 10th to Thursday 13th January 2022.
The Countess will visit organisations and charities, and meet dignitaries who are championing crucial eye healthcare programmes, in support of the IAPB’s ‘2030 in Sight’ initiative. The pandemic has created a backlog of vital eye treatments and surgeries around the world. The IAPB’s campaign seeks to highlight the scale of avoidable blindness, and to promote a collaborative, global approach to ensuring eye care and rehabilitation facilities are available to everyone who needs them, wherever they are in the world.
The Countess of Wessex is passionate about eliminating avoidable blindness, and as Global Ambassador for the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness for nearly twenty years, has seen the difference organisations with the right knowledge, experience and funding can make on a global scale.
In 2013, The Countess visited India and Qatar to highlight global issues around preventable childhood blindness. During the visit to India, Her Royal Highness saw first-hand the work of Orbis and their unique Flying Eye Hospital. The Countess returned to Qatar in 2015 to mark World Sight Day, and to further promote the need for support of global eye health programmes. In 2017, The Countess visited Bangladesh with Orbis, to learn more about their sight saving initiatives followed by a visit to Qatar to meet the charity’s staff and supporters.
To mark World Sight Day 2020, The Countess joined The Queen for a video call with eye health professionals working on the ground to deliver eye care across the Commonwealth.
To mark World Sight Day in October 2021, The Countess visited Perseid School in London to see children having their eyes tested by SeeAbility and support the #LoveYourEyes campaign.
Image Credit: Orbis
