A recent WHO Report estimates that, globally, only 36% of people with vision impairment due to refractive error have received access to a good quality pair of spectacles.
In 2021, the World Health Assembly endorsed the first-ever global target for refractive error, specifically, a 40-percentage point increase in the effective coverage. In order to support Member States to achieve this target, WHO plans a global initiative in 2023 titled "WHO SPECS 2030".
On 11 and 12 May, WHO convened an in-person consultation in Geneva with a broad range of stakeholders in the field of refractive error to introduce this global initiative and the feedback received will make an important contribution to the planning of WHO SPECS 2030.