Richard Pool, Sight Savers Global Trust Manager:(U.K. U.S and Europe) joined the meeting by zoom to tell us about Sight Savers and their work.
Sight Savers vision is of a world where no one is blind from avoidable causes or excluded from accessing their rights because of a disability.
More than 2 billion people have a visual impairment, and around half could have been treated or prevented. The organization was founded in 1950 and now works in more than 30 countries across Africa, Middle East and Asia with local partners and community volunteers They have built a wealth of experience and knowledge, enabling them to change lives around the globe. They also help to distribute medicines to treat painful diseases which can ultimately lead to sight loss, such as trachoma and river blindness, and also help provide access to sight-saving operations for eye conditions including cataracts.
Sight Savers not only help to save sight but also improve overall health and quality of life. A child who receives treatment can often return to school, while an adult has a better chance of working for a living. therefore helping to break the cycle of poverty and ensure everyone can participate fully in their communities.
Sight Savers also support people with disabilities and fight for their rights to education, employment and voting, and for equal access to healthcare.
Nearly half of blindness and visual impairment can be treated or prevented. Richard explained that unless eye health services improve, the number of people who are blind could triple to 115 million by 2050.
Sight Savers strengthen health systems for the long-term:- They build human resources, by training surgeons, nurses and eye health workers. Educate people about eye health and how to get treatment. Provide glasses for people who need them. Take treatment to communities where its needed. Distributed more than 1.6 billion disease treatments and 6 million pairs of spectacles and have helped to carry out more than 8 million sight-saving cataract operations since they began.
The World Health Organisation provide Pharmaceutical support.
Funds are key to Sight Savers success, and Richard thanked Rotary for their 4 million pound support since 1960.
