Eye health Archives | Sightsavers

Stories / Eye health /

Twelve-year-old Faryal used to feel dizzy when reading and struggled with her schoolwork. After receiving spectacles through a Sightsavers programme in Pakistan, she can now reach her full potential.

A boy wearing glasses smiling. Behind him, a girl wearing a hijab is beaming.

News / Eye health /

Sightsavers has joined a US$75 million initiative to boost eye health services and help address the global vision crisis.

September 2025

Stories / Eye health /

Thanks to a Sightsavers-supported eye health project in Nigeria, 12-year-old Sa’id received the treatment he needed for his blurred vision and itchy eyes.

A man cover one eye with his hand during an eye test.

News / Eye health /

Our new partnership with global disability organisation Light for the World aims to ensure people in remote areas of the country can access quality eye care.

July 2025

Chisomo and his mother Margaret stand in front of the wooden door of their house.

Stories / Eye health /

Since having cataract surgery, Margaret and her son Chisomo can now live independently.

Aasiya wearing a pair of glasses. She has a colourful scarf over her hair.

Stories / Eye health /

Many people with disabilities like Aasiya can’t access treatment for common eye conditions. Our refractive error programme is making eye care more inclusive and accessible in Pakistan.

$A female student wears eye test glasses during a refractive error examination.$

News / Eye health /

Global eyewear brand My Spectacles and scientific equipment company Applied Photophysics have partnered with us to raise funds for our eye health work.

March 2025

12-year-old Fiza smiles after receiving glasses through an eye test at her school.

News / Eye health /

OptikosPrime’s innovative app will help people living in lower income countries to access eye care by making it possible to have their eyes tested via smartphone.

January 2025

Mary smiling after her cataract operation.

Stories / Eye health /

After her cataract operation, Mary’s future is full of hope and possibilities. See how Sightsavers helped to transform her life.

A man wearing sunglasses smiles with his two happy grandchildren.

News / Eye health /

For each handmade pair of glasses sold, the eyewear brand will donate £33 towards Sightsavers' eye health work.

November 2024

A woman wearing a surgical face mask holds two mobile phones while recording data about cataract operations in Nigeria.

News / Eye health /

Peek Vision's innovative app aims to improve the country's eye health and ensure robust, continued care for people with visual impairments.

October 2024

Twelve-year-old Arthur smiles as he stands next to his teacher, Mr Thompson. They stand in front of a chalk board in a classroom.

Blogs / Eye health /

In line with World Sight Day’s focus on child eye health, our experts reveal why eye screenings in schools are boosting students’ academic performance.

Sightsavers, September 2024

A doctor prepares Joseph for cataract surgery.

News / Eye health /

Sightsavers carried out more cataract operations than ever in 2023, according to figures published in the latest annual report.

September 2024

Community volunteer Richard Lowoto with a group of patients and their families seated under a shady tree in Turkana, Kenya.

Stories / Eye health /

In the unforgiving desert of northern Kenya, getting treatment for painful, debilitating eye conditions such as trachoma can be an impossible task.

Nyangan and her granddaughters standing outside their home in Turkana, Kenya.

Stories / Eye health /

Sightsavers’ inclusive eye health programme is making sure older people and women such as Nyangan can get vital eye care.

Upendo talks to a patient during an eye test.

News / Eye health /

Sightsavers is the first eye health charity that Nikon Lenswear UK has chosen to benefit from its annual summer fundraising campaign.

May 2024

Patience from Liberia wearing her new glasses, whilst standing next to her mother, betty.

Blogs / Eye health /

Glasses can be life-changing for someone with refractive error. That’s why we’ve joined the World Health Organization’s SPECS 2030 initiative.

Sumrana Yasmin, May 2024

Arthur in the classroom, smiling while wearing his new glasses.

News / Eye health /

SPECS 2030 aims to tackle the world’s biggest cause of visual impairment by improving global access to eye care.

May 2024

Stories / Eye health /

When Angeshita regained her independence after her eye operation, so did her family. After caring for her for several years. they are now able to return to school and work, giving them all hope for the future.

An eye health doctor wearing a smart white shirt and sunglasses.

Stories / Eye health /

Learn about one man's mission to make a difference in his community in rural Malawi by training as an eye health specialist. Now, long queues at the eye clinic are a thing of the past.

Dr Gladys walks with a female health worker, all wearing medical scrubs.

Stories / Eye health /

In Uganda, an inclusive eye health programme has helped to protect people’s vision and build a sustainable eye health system that can be accessed by everyone.

Stories / Eye health /

Zahra is one of the many children now thriving thanks to a Sightsavers programme to screen school students for eye conditions and health problems.

Hortance stands alongside a man at a Sightsavers event stand.

Blogs / Eye health /

Sightsavers’ Hortance Manjo shares insights from the event in Zambia, which highlighted eye health for the first time.

Hortance Manjo, January 2024

A mother and her young daughter hug and smile.

Blogs / Eye health /

Eye health has an impact on numerous Sustainable Development Goals, and has a ripple effect that improves gender equity, education, economic and health outcomes.

Fiona Lawless, December 2023

Ophthalmologist Alinafe uses a torch to check a man's eyes.

Blogs / Eye health /

Everyone will require eye care services at some point in life, but universal health coverage cannot be achieved unless everyone, wherever they live, has affordable access to the eye care they need.

Fiona Lawless, December 2023

A young girl wearing a colourful eye patch smiles and holds her thumb up to the camera.

News / Eye health /

Speckles will be supporting Sightsavers’ eye health projects through annual donations, starting with the School Health Integrated Programming project in Liberia.

October 2023

A mother holds and looks at her young son as they stand in front of a brick wall.

Stories / Eye health /

Cataracts are the world’s leading cause of blindness. On World Sight Day, learn what Sightsavers is doing to protect the sight of children with cataracts in Zambia.

Vision technician Ruth Zeo points to an eye chart during an eye screening

Blogs / Eye health /

Liberia's National Eye Health Policy will ensure eye health is a priority and help strengthen the wider health system by developing a sustainable, inclusive eye care service.

Nazaradden Ibrahim, September 2023

Dr Jalikatu uses a magnifier to look at a girl's eyes.

News / Eye health /

Dr Jalikatu Mustapha trained with Sightsavers between 2012 and 2016, becoming the only female ophthalmologist in the country.

August 2023

Sightsavers' CEO Caroline Harper poses for a group photo with staff from Sightsavers Bangladesh during its 50th anniversary celebrations in Dhaka.

News / Eye health /

Sightsavers began working in Bangladesh in 1973 to diagnose and treat people for cataracts, which is one of the most common eye conditions in the country.

August 2023

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Eye health

“I feel very good and I like wearing my glasses”

Sightsavers receives funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies to tackle visual impairment

“I was happy when my teacher diagnosed my eye problem”

L’Occitane Foundation funds joint Sightsavers eye health project in Burkina Faso

Margaret and Chisomo’s story: “It was hard to find food when we couldn’t see”

Aasiya’s story: “Now I can see and read clearly”

Sightsavers joins forces with two new eye health partners

Sightsavers partners with AI tech company to improve rural eye care

Mary’s story: “I’m able to see!”

Sightsavers celebrates eye health partnership with Ransome Optical

Sightsavers trials technology to boost eye screening in Kenya

Child eye health is key to wellbeing and accessing education

Sightsavers funds record number of operations in 2023

Reaching remote communities

Restoring sight in Uganda: Nyangan’s story

Nikon Lenswear UK backs Sightsavers for charity fundraiser

If we have vision, we can transform universal access to spectacles

Sightsavers joins WHO initiative to improve access to spectacles

“I’m a living testimony of cataract surgery”

Eye health hero: Alinafe cuts the queues

“Everyone deserves quality eye care services”

Bringing eye health into the classroom

Six takeaways from the International Conference for Public Health in Africa

Going beyond health: the role eye care plays in the SDGs

Why eye health is crucial for universal health coverage

Sightsavers partners with children's eyewear brand Speckles

Treating cataracts in Zambia: “I know their future is going to be bright”

How do you rebuild a health system after decades of instability?

Sightsavers-trained doctor appointed deputy minister of health in Sierra Leone

Sightsavers Bangladesh marks 50-year anniversary