To address many of the challenges faced in the field of eye care – including inequities in access and lack of integration within the health system – eye care needs to be an integral part of universal health coverage (UHC): all individuals to receive the health services they need, of sufficient quality, without experiencing financial hardship. The concept of UHC is globally adopted as the key guiding principle for health planning. To this end, the Eye care in health systems – guide for action (the Guide) was developed as a manual for health planners. The Guide outlines strategies and approaches proposed by WHO that provide practical, step-by-step support to Member States in the planning and implementation of integrated people-centred eye care (IPEC). Planning periods covered in the Guide include those that are short-term (annual operational planning), as well as mid- to longer term (eye care strategic plans).
The Guide further describes and links the following four new tools developed by WHO to support country planning:
Purpose: Questionnaire based survey tool to comprehensively assess eye care in a country.
Purpose: List of recommended eye care indicators to be collected regularly.
Purpose: Planning and budgeting for eye care at each level of the health system.
Purpose: Planning tool for eye care human resources based on competencies.
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