It’s a stark fact. By the time you finish reading this page, one child somewhere in the world will have gone blind. One goes blind every minute. Childhood blindness is only one part of the global vision crisis.
In 2015, there were an estimated 253 million people with visual impairment worldwide. Of these, 36 million were blind and a further 217 million had moderate to severe visual impairment (MSVI).
Lions Club International’s SightFirst program funds efforts to fight the major causes of preventable and reversible blindness and provide services to persons who are blind or have a visual impairment. The campaign aims to strengthen eye care systems in underserved communities, enabling them to fight blindness and vision loss and assist those who are blind or visually impaired.
Since 1990, SightFirst has played a major role in helping restore, improve and preserve the vision of millions around the world.
- More than US$382 million approved for over 1,437 projects in 118 countries
- 9.7 million cataract surgeries performed to restore sight
- 1,372 eye centers and training institutions built, expanded or equipped
- 2.4 million professional eye care and community health workers trained
- 204.4 million doses of Zithromax® distributed to control trachoma and more than 955,900 trachoma surgeries performed
- 327.9 million doses of Mectizan® distributed to halt the progression of onchocerciasis
The Lions Club of Bridgend have contributed to this International Project, including donating part of the profits raised from our Tree of Light.
For more information, see SightFirst.
