Antigua and Barbuda’s Minister of Health and the Environment, Michael Joseph, has used his first United Nations General Assembly to advance plans for a national eye hospital capable of serving patients across the Eastern Caribbean.

Joseph presented the proposal during a meeting in New York on Monday, as he began a packed schedule of engagements on the margins of the UN General Assembly’s high-level week.

The meeting, facilitated by Antigua and Barbuda’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, included discussions with senior officials from Orbis, an international nonprofit organisation that helps countries develop sustainable eye-care systems.

“I firmly believe that such an institution would have the potential to serve not only the people of Antigua and Barbuda but act as a regional centre of excellence supporting the wider OECS region,” Joseph said.

The minister was joined by Antigua and Barbuda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Walton Webson. The Orbis delegation included President and Chief Executive Officer Kathleen Sherwin, Chief Communications and Brand Officer Carla Jones, and interim Chief of Programme Ayisha Diop.

Joseph said international partners such as Orbis could assist with developing the proposed hospital’s infrastructure, introducing modern technology and training the specialised personnel required to deliver expanded eye-care services.

“Through investments such as infrastructural, technological and human resources development, we can eliminate preventable blindness and, as such, give our people a greater quality of life without the limitation of vision loss,” he said.

The meeting also provided Joseph with an update on preparations for the inaugural Global Summit for Eye Health, scheduled to take place in Antigua and Barbuda on November 2.

The summit will be held alongside the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which will bring representatives from the Commonwealth’s 56 member states to Antigua and Barbuda from November 1 to 4.

The government is seeking to position eye health as an important development and economic issue rather than solely a matter of healthcare.

“When we help people to see better, this is not only a matter of health, but we are ensuring they remain productive contributors to our economy and to their families,” Joseph said.

He argued that Antigua and Barbuda’s hosting of the summit should serve as an opportunity to reshape approaches to eye health nationally, regionally and internationally.

“I anticipate that the Eye Summit will serve as a catalyst for a global vision health revolution, which should inspire governments to prioritise and invest more in vision health as a way of increasing economic empowerment for their citizens by removing potentially treatable vision impediments,” Joseph said.