Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assistance her Department is providing to countries which have not yet developed a national eye care plan.

In 2013, the World Health Assembly approved the Global Action Plan for the Prevention of Avoidable Blindness and Visual Impairment 2014-2019 - Towards Universal Eye Health. This is a roadmap for WHO Member States and international partners with the aim of achieving a measurable reduction of 25% of avoidable visual impairments by 2019. One of the three key objectives of the plan is the development and implementation of integrated national eye health policies, plans and programmes to enhance universal eye health. The UK has signed up to the plan and existing UK programmes on avoidable blindness are contributing to achieving its objectives.