Our work in Guyana

At a glance

Guyana is situated on the northern coast of South America. The majority of Guyana’s population (approximately 750,000) live along the narrow coastal plain, but for the scattered communities inland even basic health facilities are often unavailable. There are about 30,000 adults and children in Guyana who are blind or have low vision and the priority eye diseases include cataract, glaucoma, refractive error and diabetic retinopathy.

Sightsavers in Guyana

We have recently begun work on a European Union funded five-year project that aims to help deliver the goals of Vision2020, the global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness, to the Caribbean. From 2010 onwards, we will work with our partners in Guyana to support the training and development of 12 refractionists, 5 optometrists, 3 ophthalmologists, 2 low vision specialists, 8 low vision councillors, approximately 400 primary health care workers, 1 spectacle lab technician, 2 maintenance technicians, 4 vision centers and 2 surgical theaters. We are also embarking on a wide-ranging community and public awareness program that will raise awareness of eye health problems and the treatments and facilities available in Guyana.

Together with our partners the Caribbean Council for the Blind (CCB) and Eye Care Guyana, we 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 program which is accredited by the University of Guyana, and also provide support to a four-year optometry degree course run at the University, which is the first of its kind in the Caribbean.

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.