When Megan Webber and Helene Dameris of KnowTheGlow met with Junu Shrestha, they were immediately struck by her deep passion for eye health and her remarkable journey from working in an eye hospital to national advocacy and to the global stage. Junu, now the Policy and Advocacy Manager at the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), has spent the past four years working with the World Health Organization and other partners to help countries adopt Integrated People-Centered Eye Care. Her work has taken her from local health centers to presenting on advocacy and childhood cancers, including retinoblastoma, at major international forums.
Junu’s path began in Nepal’s pioneer optometry school, where she developed a strong interest in pediatric eye care. Her first posting in rural eastern Nepal showed her the profound inequalities in access to treatment. In urban centers, children could receive timely, sight-saving interventions, while in rural areas many went without care simply because of the distance and cost of travel. These experiences planted the seed for her shift into public health and policy, eventually leading her to earn a Master of Public Health and pursue studies in Health policy at the London School of Economics.
Her commitment to improving access is evident in the ambitious vision screening campaign she led in Nepal just before the pandemic. The initiative brought together optometrists, ophthalmic assistants, aspirants and scholars to screen sixty thousand people in twenty days, all under the coordination of Nepal’s Ministry of Health. Although the campaign was paused during COVID-19, Junu hopes to relaunch it, this time with medical students and optometry schools helping to expand outreach and strengthen links to retinoblastoma awareness.
Nepal is a wonderful model in the world, for public-private partnership in the eye care system. The major NGOs are Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh and Nepal Eye Program, whose services spans not only in eye care service delivery but also in academia and training, research, and policy making as a part of the high level body on eye health under the MoH. Junu has also been instrumental in advocating for the inclusion of eye health in national policies and ensuring that hospitals are required to have optometrists on staff.
Now based in London while her husband completes his studies, Junu remains deeply connected to Nepal and eager to contribute. She expressed a strong interest in supporting KnowTheGlow’s mission and offered to help advance awareness and screening efforts in Nepal and neighboring regions. Her story is one of determination, vision, and an unwavering belief that no child should lose their sight simply because of where they were born.
