About us
Up to 650 million people are estimated to be visually impaired worldwide: 50 million are blind and up to 325 million have low vision (severe or moderate visual impairment). 4 out of 5 (80%) of the world’s blind or visually impaired people are avoidably so. Avoidable blindness is defined as blindness, which could be either treated or prevented by known, cost-effective means. About 90% of the world’s visually impaired people live in developing countries. The economic impact of so many visually impaired people is clear: children cannot go to school and adults are unable to work. Curing avoidable blindness has far-reaching benefits for the country and its future economic prospects. Globally, uncorrected refractive errors are the main cause of visual impairment. Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness with an estimated 50 million in the developing world suffering. 65% of visually impaired, and 82% of blind people are over 50 years of age, although this age group comprises only 20% of the world population. The top causes of visual impairment are refractive errors, cataracts and glaucoma. Top causes of blindness are cataracts, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration.
Our Goals: To open another 16 eye hospitals by 2020 To increase the number of cataract operations undertaken each year from 100,000 to 175,000 by 2022
With your help we can enable the blind to see again and change lives-thank you for your support!
