Developing a Global Eye Health Research Agenda: protocol for a priority setting process

<ns3:p>Background Vision impairment remains a major global health issue, affecting an estimated 1.1 billion people in 2020, 90% of whom have preventable or treatable conditions. The magnitude of eye health conditions continues to rise, disproportionately affecting low-income and middle-income countries. The World Health Assembly has called for the development of a global research agenda for eye health, with the aim of highlighting the evidence required to inform national policy and service delivery decisions, ultimately contributing to increased access to high-quality eye care services worldwide. Objective This protocol outlines the methodology for a global research priority setting process that will inform the development of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Eye Health Research Agenda. The Agenda aims to highlight the evidence required to inform national policy and service delivery decisions, ultimately contributing to increased access to high-quality eye care services worldwide. The goal is to identify and prioritize research questions across key eye health themes, with an emphasis on health systems and policy research, innovation, and equity. Methods A structured, multi-phase process will be used, including the development of Theory of Change frameworks to guide question formulation, wide engagement with stakeholders through open consultation, ensuring regional balance and diversity, consolidation and mapping of research questions, and a two-stage prioritization process involving ranking and scoring of potential research questions based on predefined criteria. The framework for this project has been informed by the WHO guidance for research priority-setting exercisees, and will be reported in accordance with the REporting guideline for PRIority SEtting of Health Research (REPRISE). Impact The resulting Research Agenda is intended to galvanize better-focused and coordinated action and funding to close the evidence gaps, leading to the delivery of effective and equitable eye care. Outputs will be disseminated through WHO and peer-reviewed publications, with recommendations for implementation and future evaluation.</ns3:p>