Optical sector: Help Sightsavers put people at the heart of eye health

Optical sector: Help Sightsavers put people at the heart of eye health

Sightsavers fights to prevent causes of avoidable blindness in over 30 countries around the world, looking to address some of the geographic and systematic inequalities that many people can face.

Eye health, and the right to sight, is not universal.  While access to life changing interventions is often relatively simple in the United Kingdom, there are other parts of the world where this is not the case, which affects individuals, families and communities massively.  Some recent research has found that:

1. Without urgent action, the number of people with preventable visual impairments could rise from 1.1 billion today to 1.8 billion by 2050​
2. Early intervention to correct a child’s vision can boost their lifetime earnings by up to 78%
3. Eye health interventions are some of the most cost effective in the health system. For every $1 invested in eye health, there is a $28 return on investment.
4. Every year, vision impairment costs the world USD$411 billion in lost productivity. Solving the eye health crisis would cost just one-sixteenth of that​.
5. The leading causes of blindness and vision impairment are cataracts, glaucoma and refractive errors

As optical professionals, you are already making a difference to eye health locally. But on a global scale we need your help to make big changes.  The international development organisation Sightsavers supports the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) call to make eye health a priority and put people at the heart of efforts. With shared goals, the optical sector is perfectly placed to partner with t Sightsavers to end avoidable blindness.

As an OpChat charity partner, Sightsavers invites all subscribers to support the fight against avoidable blindness by becoming an eye health partner.

Become an eye health partner

Sightsavers has a dedicated eye health partnership initiative for optical professionals like you. There are many ways to partner with us, from donations and fundraising activities to donate-as-you-purchase schemes.  As a partner, you’ll receive regular updates on our work across Africa and Asia, plus engaging content to share with your customers and patients. Together, we can make a lasting impact on people’s lives by improving access to eye care and ending avoidable blindness.  If you are interested in finding out more watch this video highlighting the benefits of partnering with Sightsavers and visit Sightsavers’ eye health partner page for more details. Or contact James Lwanda on jlwanda@sightsavers.org to start a conversation.

Find out more about Sightsavers work at www.sightsavers.org

Sightsavers and Opchat News and Mylocaloptician are partners why not become an eye health partner  today ?