Where we work
Sightsavers works in more than 30 countries in some of the poorest parts of the world.
Our work focuses on low and middle income countries in Africa and Asia.
In 2017 we carried out more than 14 million eye examinations across the countries where we work, and distributed more than 157 million treatments to prevent and treat debilitating diseases.
Our first programmes in the 1950s started in Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Nigeria, with several other African countries following in the next two decades. In the 1960s and 70s we also expanded into Asia with our first projects in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and continued to extend our work across Africa. Most recently, we started work in Yemen in 2018, distributing treatments for neglected tropical diseases.
Our work in Sri Lanka came to an end in 2016, marking an exciting milestone: it’s the first time we’ve been able to finish our work in a country, satisfied that the eye care services we’ve set up can continue without us.
Our history
Sightsavers was founded in 1950, and was originally known as the Royal Empire Society for the Blind.
Read our storyWhere we work
Western Africa
Benin
Burkina Faso
Côte d’Ivoire
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Liberia
Mali
Nigeria
Senegal
Sierra Leone
The Gambia
Togo
Your donation could help to change lives
DONATEOur work around the world
The final days of trachoma in Ghana
Sightsavers’ Kate McCoy followed a team of eye care workers as they raced through cities and villages to find any remaining patients: they needed to treat them all to eliminate the disease for good.
First treatments for trachoma distributed in Yemen
More than 4,000 volunteers, most of them women, went door to door with medication to treat the potentially blinding disease.
Sightsavers Uganda takes part in national disability dialogue
The discussions in Kampala focused on how Uganda can achieve the aim of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals: to leave no one behind.
Meeting Sierra Leone’s miracle workers
A group of Sightsavers staff travelled to Makeni Hospital in Sierra Leone to meet the amazing eye care workers your donations are helping to support.
Eye care for those who need it most
Sightsavers’ Sarah Muddle visited Bhopal in India to see how our eye care projects are helping slum communities devastated by an industrial tragedy in 1984.
How you’re helping us restore sight in Bangladesh
Sightsavers’ Ella Pierce travelled to Bangladesh and met eight-year-old Suborna, who was in desperate need of a cataract operation. This is her journey.
