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At a glance

Guyana is situated on the northern coast of South America. The majority of Guyana’s population lives along the narrow coastal plain but for the scattered communities in the interior (inland) even basic health facilities are often unavailable.

Factors such as the dense tropical forest that covers most of the country, and the high cost of delivering services can result in the lack of access to adequate health care (including eye care) for these populations.

Those who live in the interior need to travel to urban centres to access services, and because there are few roads this is mostly by river. This type of travel is particularly difficult for people who are blind, or have other disabilities.

Sightsavers in Guyana

Sightsavers, together with our partners the Caribbean Council for the Blind (CCB) and Eye Care Guyana are working with the government of Guyana to ensure adequate eye care services are available in urban areas and also in the rural, hard to reach parts of the interior, where long distances and poor roads are a major problem and river transport is essential. We support a Regional Refractionist training programme which is accredited by the University of Guyana, and also provide support to a four year Optometry degree course run at the University. 

More about our work in Guyana

CCB Eye Care Guyana also supports a spectacle laboratory to provide low-cost glasses and provides much needed equipment to schools. They also manage a community based rehabilitation project to help people who are blind rebuild their lives and livelihoods.