Santen Pharmaceutical has joined the inaugural Global Summit for Eye Health as a High Impact Partner.
The summit, organized by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) in technical collaboration with the World Health Organization, will take place in Antigua and Barbuda on November 2, 2026.
It is expected to bring together heads of government, ministers, international organizations, civil society groups, and private-sector leaders to agree new measures addressing avoidable sight loss.
Participants will launch the Global Eye Health Compact, a framework intended to accelerate progress through measurable commitments from governments and organizations.
As a High Impact Partner, Santen will help shape the event and plans to unveil its own global eye health commitment at the event. The company said the pledge will outline how it intends to support improvements in eye health during the coming years.
More than one billion people worldwide are living with avoidable vision impairment, according to the organizations behind the summit. They argue that coordinated action is required across prevention, early diagnosis, treatment and public policy to close gaps in access to care.
Rie Nakajima, director of the board and chief operating officer of Santen Global, said tackling vision impairment would require cooperation between governments, healthcare professionals, patient groups and other international partners.
“No single organization can solve the growing burden of vision impairment alone,” she said. “By working alongside governments, healthcare professionals, patient organizations and global partners, we can help strengthen eye health systems, improve access to quality eye care and deliver lasting benefits for people around the world.”
Santen’s participation builds on its existing work with IAPB and other eye health organizations, including projects focused on childhood myopia, public awareness and healthy vision habits among children.
IAPB chief executive Peter Holland noted that collaboration would be essential to expanding eye care services “at scale and speed to end avoidable or treatable sight loss.”
The summit will ask countries and partner organizations to make concrete commitments to strengthen eye health systems and accelerate action for people living with avoidable or treatable sight loss.
Source: Santen Pharmaceutical.
