From eye screenings and prevention education, to treatment and follow-up care, our partners provide comprehensive eye health services. Together we are addressing the major causes of vision loss: cataract, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, trachoma, uncorrected refractive error and other conditions.
We also work with our partners to implement solutions for screening, diagnosing and treating eye conditions in children, such as retinopathy of prematurity and retinoblastoma (eye cancer), as early as possible. In collaboration with ministries of health and education, we provide eye screenings at schools and ensure children get the prescription eyeglasses or other treatment they need to succeed.
In Kenya, we conduct mass drug administrations in places like Narok County, distributing antibiotics to treat and prevent trachoma, a blinding eye disease.
Click here to learn more about our community-based approach to screening, diagnosing and providing treatment for various eye conditions.
2024 Highlights
In 2024, eye surgeries were one of our areas of success. We performed more than 280,000 surgeries, which exceeded our target of 245,000. Of all of the surgery referrals made, 78 per cent were performed. Most of the surgeries were for cataracts.
Since 2021, we have been working with the C L Gupta Eye Institute in India to screen and treat Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), a serious disease that affects premature and low-birthweight infants and is the primary cause of childhood blindness in infants less than eight months old. To date, we have screened 1,800 infants and provided treatment for 230.
Two eye diseases are the leading causes of vision loss. Cataracts impact 100 million people and refractive error impacts 161 million.
Our 2024 achievements are summarized in the table below:
