At the Global Summit for Eye Health, Kenya announced a commitment to eradicate cataract as a public health issue by 2045, aiming to address avoidable blindness affecting millions of citizens.

The government intends to increase the cataract surgical rate from roughly 750 operations per million people today to 2,000 per million by 2030 and further to 8,600 per million by 2036, which would translate into about nine million surgeries between 2027 and 2045.

A specific goal is to lower cataract‑related vision impairment among adults aged 50 and older from an estimated 8 % to 2.5 % through investments in treatment facilities, workforce training and financing under the Social Health Authority.

In 2027 the Ministry of Health will draft a costed national cataract plan that will set county‑level targets, outline required staff numbers and create a monitoring framework, with a focus on underserved regions.

VisionSpring pledged to supply affordable eyeglasses to an additional 550,000 Kenyans by 2030, concentrating on working‑age adults such as farmers and small‑scale entrepreneurs.

An analysis by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness estimates that investing KSh 3.3 billion (US$25.5 million) in eye health from 2026 to 2030 could generate KSh 34 billion (US$265 million) in economic benefits, including extra schooling years, fewer road‑traffic injuries and reduced depression linked to vision loss.

Dr. Andrew Jacob Toro, head of Nursing and Curative Services at the Ministry of Health, highlighted that access to vision care is essential for human dignity and national prosperity.