Sightsavers (India)
Sightsavers works in over 30 developing countries in Africa and Asia to prevent avoidable blindness and promote the rights of people with disabilities. Since its creation in 1950, Sightsavers have provided over 1.2 billion treatments for blinding tropical diseases, carried out over 10.6 million sight-saving operations (including 7.7 million cataract surgeries), and dispensed glasses to over 4.5 million people.
The Rural Eye Health Programme in India aims to increase the uptake of eye health services by the rural poor, women (whose treatment is often not prioritised), and other marginalised groups, including people with disabilities and people from lower castes and tribes.
This project aims to deliver quality eye health services at primary and secondary levels by integrating eye health into existing primary healthcare plans and creating primary eye care facilities.
Since 2021, the Eurofins Foundation continued to support this programme, enabling Sightsavers to reach more than 225,000 individuals with eye screenings and provided more than 8,000 people with sight-saving cataract surgery.
The district’s vision centres offered a variety of eye care services, such as eye examinations, refractions (eye tests for glasses), provision of affordable glasses, identification of diseases that could cause blindness, and referral of patients with more complicated eye conditions to hospitals for further care. In 2023, more than 15,000 people have been refracted and 6,000 people have received glasses.
The project has conducted 48 outreach camps throughout the year to ensure Sightsavers reach those in the most rural areas, including all genders and people with disabilities. The teams consisted of an optometrist and camp coordinator. They conducted screenings and referred cases to the next level facility where required. People that have been identified as in need of eye surgery were referred to the base hospital.
In 2023, the project has trained 335 ASHA workers (Accredited Social Health Activist) on common eye disorders and early patient identification and referral. 70 ophthalmic staff also received training to upgrade their technical skills on eye care techniques. Community Based Organizations (CBOs) were involved to ensure greater participation and uptake at vision centres and screenings camps. Extensive outreach activities using information materials like pamphlets, posters, leaflets, and loudspeaker announcements were conducted to raise awareness of eye health, as well as the treatments and services available to communities.
In 2023/2025, the Eurofins Foundation renews its support to Sightsavers for this project.
This project contributes to the following United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal
