Childhood Blindness Project
Vision provides 80% of the sensory inputs we take in from our environment. Through vision, we learn about the world.
Healthy eyesight helps children bond with family members, learn, develop, and fully utilize the opportunities life can offer. Children’s eyes are delicate and sensitive; they are easily susceptible to infection and injury. They can also easily suffer from nutritional deficiencies. Blindness in children can be caused by several conditions, the most common being Vitamin-A deficiency, congenital cataracts, corneal scarring from measles and traumas, and retinopathy of prematurity. Many children also have their vision compromised by harmful traditional practices. From the moment of birth, vision is critical to child development. Early detection and timely care for visual impairment and blindness is essential, yet in many low-income settings, there is a lack of essential eye care services to diagnose and treat child eye diseases, which can cause blindness or visual impairment.
Since 2001, Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have partnered on a joint effort to combat avoidable childhood blindness throughout the world.
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About the project
Through the Project for Elimination of Avoidable Childhood Blindness, 73 tertiary pediatric Lions Eye Care centers have been established or strengthened in countries around the globe. These centers are aimed especially at delivering preventive, therapeutic and rehabilitative eye care services, benefiting more than 200 million children.
LCIF has awarded nearly US$7 million in SightFirst grants to fund this initiative, which is focused on training primary eye care personnel, developing pediatric surgical teams, improving infrastructure and establishing low vision services.
This work is delivered as a partnership where the WHO oversees the coordination of projects, defines the standard operating procedures, and provides technical advisory services, as well as the necessary monitoring and evaluation activities.
The operational phase is coordinated with the national Ministry of Health, regional health authorities, local Lions clubs and other partners. Training and education are coordinated with international academic institutions and delivered on-site for maximum efficiency and immediate usefulness to children in need.
Our accomplishments
- Over 200 million children have benefitted since the project began, through screening, prophylaxis, treatment and surgery.
- 43 million children reached through screening at the primary health care level.
- 59,000 eye care and health care professionals trained.
- 73 model tertiary eye care centers established in 35 countries.
- 3 new centers are being established in Kenya, Chad and Madagascar.
Vision for all
As one of the Foundation’s most notable programs, SightFirst 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. This is accomplished through the support of eye health care delivery systems, training and infrastructure development.
