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Tackling inequality and inequity in eye health: can the SDGs help us?

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in September 2015. They are a set of goals and targets that all UN member states have committed to achieving: ‘to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all’. A major emphasis of the SDGs is to ‘leave no one behind’; that is, to reach everyone, including the poor and the marginalised.

The health goal (Goal 3: Good health) is to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all, at all ages. One of the targets within Goal 3 is about universal health coverage (defined as access for all people to health services without suffering financial hardship). There is also considerable focus on attending to the needs of people with disabilities and vulnerable groups. Goal 3’s emphasis on tackling health inequity and promoting access for all people complements the approach of the World Health Organization (WHO) action plan called Universal Eye Health: A Global Action Plan 2014-2019.

More information

Type
Journal Article
Author
Gray Z