The President, Board and members of the Caribbean Council for the Blind and Visually Impaired extend high commendations to Prime Minister Gaston Browne, the wider Government, and the people of Antigua and Barbuda, on the country’s hosting of the 28th Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference.
The series of meetings will take place in St. Johns November 1st to 4th.
In a Briefing session with CCB Media, Mr Persad commented that, the meeting of Commonwealth Heads in Antigua-Barbuda is an indication of the country’s increasing influence in global affairs.
The President of Council, told CCB Media that, the meeting of Commonwealth heads, is the 3rd large multilateral gathering to be hosted by Antigua and Barbuda since June 2019.
During the briefing session, Mr Persad, noted that Antigua and Barbuda, led internationally on banning single use plastics. He referenced the country’s hosting of the Play It Out Concert and Festival, in June 2019; to celebrate the international campaign against plastic pollution.
Speaking with CCB Media, Mr. Persad recalled that, Antigua and Barbuda also hosted the Fourth International conference on Small Island Developing States in May of 2024.
He noted that the Global Summit for Eye Health and Commonwealth Disabled People’s Forum are among a number of allied discussions taking place in tandem with the meetings of Commonwealth Heads.
The CCB President observed that there are serious gaps in eye health and disability services across the Caribbean, throughout much of the tropical Commonwealth and Global South.
He expressed concern that there are extreme service gaps in the number of eye-trained nurses, vision care technicians, optometrists and ophthalmologists in the region. Noting CCB’s estimate of more than 60,000 blind people and more than 240,000 people with severe vision loss in the Commonwealth Caribbean, the CCB President believes that those human resource gaps are contributing to high numbers of avoidable vision loss and blindness across the Caribbean.
Mr. Persad expressed the hope that the conclusions of the Eye Summit and the Disabled People’s Forum, will help inform and guide global action to prevent vision loss and restore sight, while creating equal opportunities for people living with blindness and other disabilities.
Approved for Release by: Arvel Grant, Public Health and International Development Specialist, Chief Executive Officer