With global effective cataract surgery coverage projected at 48.2% for 2025, HelpMeSee has announced a 2045 framework linking surgeon training with stronger local care services.
A study in The Lancet Global Health, using survey data from 68 countries, projected an 8.4-percentage-point gain from 2020 to 2030, bringing coverage to 52.3%. That would leave the increase below the World Health Assembly’s 30-percentage-point goal for 2030. Effective coverage combines access to surgery with the resulting visual outcome for patients who need the procedure.
HelpMeSee announced the framework Oct. 29, describing it as a pathway to eliminate preventable cataract blindness by 2045. It calls for identifying people who need surgery, training surgeons and developing local services where operations can be delivered. HelpMeSee says patients should be able to reach quality treatment they can afford. The organization is seeking discussions with governments, hospitals, universities, eye-health groups, funders, technology companies and clinical partners.
HelpMeSee’s training combines instructor-led teaching with standardized curricula, online lessons, assessments and high-fidelity simulators. The organization says simulation prepares trainees for supervised live surgery. CEO and President Doug May said, “Building that capacity requires organizations with different capabilities working together.”
Separately, a World Health Organization (WHO) discussion paper dated Oct. 28 proposes 90% effective cataract surgery coverage by 2045. WHO labels the document an unedited draft for consultation that may be revised. It says cataracts cannot be prevented in every case and proposes eliminating cataract-related blindness and vision impairment as a public-health problem, then maintaining that result. HelpMeSee’s announcement gave no numerical coverage benchmark and did not describe coordination between the two efforts.
HelpMeSee says it plans further thought leadership in 2027 on the data, measures, actions and milestones that could be used to track progress. The Global Summit for Eye Health is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 2, in St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda.
