Duchess promotes eye health at Antigua summit
Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 3 Nov, 17:46 · Archive
The Duchess of Edinburgh attended the inaugural Global Summit for Eye Health in St John's, Antigua and Barbuda, where she wore white heart-shaped glasses alongside other delegates to raise awareness of global eye health. The summit was held alongside the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
As a global ambassador for the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, the duchess made a speech on Monday emphasising that treatable and avoidable blindness has been overlooked and must be treated as seriously as any other health challenge. She said: 'For too long treatable and avoidable blindness has been overlooked, perceived perhaps as a non-vital and non-life-threatening condition.' She stressed that treating avoidable blindness with low-cost and effective interventions brings 'huge returns' and that 'it just does not have to happen'.
The summit secured over 200 commitments to transform eye health worldwide, including more than one billion US dollars in government pledges to tackle avoidable sight loss, alongside promises of 68 million glasses and 13 million cataract surgeries. The duchess spoke of witnessing sight being saved through operations and screening during her work with the agency.
The duchess's visit coincided with the King and Queen's official tour to the Caribbean nation, though the royals did not meet during her brief trip because of their busy programmes.
How it is being reported
- Duchess of Edinburgh dons heart-shaped glasses for good cause during Antigua summitSophie’s visit coincided with the King and Queen’s tour of the Caribbean nationThe Independent · 3 Nov, 17:29
- Sophie wears heart-shaped glasses to promote importance of global eye healthThe duchess travelled to Antigua, while the King and Queen were also visiting, to attend the inaugural Global Summit for Eye Health.Evening Standard · 3 Nov, 16:24
In this story: Duchess of Edinburgh · King · Queen · International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness · Antigua and Barbuda · Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log
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