An In-Sight into the Avoidable Blindness Programme

This week we had the pleasure of meeting John and Fiona from Global Sight Solutions, a charity who work tirelessly to restore the sight of people in poverty from all around the world. They gave a fabulous presentation about their work and enlightened us as to their plans for the future.

This amazing charity was founded in 1994 and opened its first eye hospital in 1998. With sheer will and determination the team successfully opened 27 more hospitals by 2011 and set themselves a further target of 50 more by 2021. This was slightly hampered by recent global health events but is now again within reach.

We were shocked to hear that up to 650 million people globally are in need of eye care but are too poor to access solutions for themselves. 

• Around half are in need of a pair of prescription glasses
• 50 million suffer from river blindness
• 55 million more from Trachoma
• At least 100 million suffer from a range of retinal issues and/or minor sight defects
• 85 million suffer from glaucoma

And an incredible further 50 million suffer from cataracts. 

While the hospitals Global Sight Solutions have created provide a full range of eye care services, it is cataract operations that this charity it is possibly best known for.

When all of the hospitals are fully operation Global Sight Solutions will have created the capacity to perform 180,000 cataract operations each year. To put this in perspective that is 50% of the total number of cataract operations performed in the entire UK each year. How amazing is that?

Their wonderful hospitals can be found in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya and the Lebanon.

If you would like to contribute to this fantastic charity, you'll be pleased to know that a donation of just £5.00 can fund the cost of a cataract operation. Giving someone their sight back also gives them the ability to earn a living and look after their family or go to school to study and ultimately improve their lives.

Donate here

If you would like to find out more about Global Sight Solutions tap here.