Seeing is Believing
We’re celebrating the huge impact that this long-running eye health project is having on people’s lives.
A quarter of the world’s population has a visual impairment.
And the inequalities are huge: the number of people affected in low and middle income countries is four times higher than in high income countries.
Our Seeing is Believing project, active in Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, has worked to address those inequalities, treat avoidable blindness and improve local healthcare to ensure the impact is lasting.
To celebrate the 17-year-long project, we challenged Sightsavers CEO Caroline Harper to memorise and recite 17 of those achievements within 90 seconds.
Watch Caroline’s challenge below.
Explore the project’s 17 successes
Screened 34 million people
Hear from our chief global technical lead to get a behind-the-scenes look at how we reached so many people.
Given 860,000 people glasses
Learn how we've contributed to halving blindness in the remote Sundarbans region of eastern India.
Provided 619,000 cataract operations
Meet Arif, whose operation enabled him to learn at school, migrate from his childhood village and earn a living.
Became better at finding people
Meet the miking team we trained to spread the word about free eye healthcare among remote communities.
Made our work more inclusive
Through our learning, we continue to reach those most marginalised via inclusive eye health projects.
Increased people’s trust
Learn how members of Arif's family became confident to seek treatment after his successful operation.
Treated more women for cataracts
Women are more likely to develop cataracts, so we make sure people like Azimunnisa can get the treatment they need.
Lowered cataract cases in poor areas
People living in informal, urban settlements often experience discrimination, so we ensured they aren’t left behind.
Inspired people to become champions
In Pakistan, we trained Lady Health Workers to make sure families are informed about eye health.
Trained 185,000 health workers
Meet the health workers who were trained more than 10 years ago and see what impact it has had on their careers.
Trained 83,000 teachers and classroom assistants to spot eye health problems
Training education staff to carry out eye screenings helps to make sure that in the future, no child will be left behind.
Screened 2 million children
Without eye health screenings, hundreds of children around the world who were born with cataracts wouldn’t have been diagnosed and treated to stop them going irreversibly blind.
Improved childhood nutrition
To reduce deficiency-associated blindness among children, we provided vitamin A supplements.
Provided resources such as braille
We’ve helped to ensure all children, including those with visual impairments, can learn at school alongside their peers.
Worked with governments to provide integrated eye health
We’ve integrated eye health into countries’ primary health care, meaning our impact will continue long into the future.
Carried out research on how to make healthcare more effective
We conduct independent research to shape our work and make sure it’s as effective as possible.
Contributed to the first research into the cost of eye care in Africa
These estimates are crucial to help meet global goals to eliminate avoidable blindness. Read about the impact that good sight has on the global economy.
The Seeing is Believing project, funded by Standard Chartered, worked in 22 countries with the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness and a global community of leading eye care non-governmental organisations.
Read our insight into the project from behind the scenes
Reaching 34 million people