We want to eliminate avoidable blindness and get equality for people with disabilities.

We help blind people to see, prevent others from going blind unnecessarily, and support people to live independently if their sight loss can’t be undone.

The causes of avoidable blindness go further than eye disease, so we don’t just slap a sticking-plaster on the problem – we campaign to make a fairer world and change lives for the long term.

We prevent blindness and restore sight.

We don’t want to bombard you with statistics, but some of the numbers are staggering. 80 per cent of all blindness in the world could be prevented or cured. That’s over 31 million people, most of whom live in the poorest countries in the world. And with poverty being both a cause and effect of blindness, a cycle’s created that can be hard for communities to break out of.

Here are some of the eye conditions we’re up against:

Glaucoma

This describes a group of eye conditions so it can be hard to classify. It’s usually caused when your eyes’ drainage tubes block, causing pressure which can damage the optic nerve. It’s treatable with eye drops, laser treatment or surgery, but it needs to be caught as early as possible, because although treatment can control it, any damage it’s already caused to your sight can’t be reversed.

Our work also covers low vision, diabetic retinopathy, childhood blindness and the group (17 diseases in total) known as neglected tropical diseases, which incorporates not only trachoma and river blindness, but also Buruli Ulcer, Chagas disease, Dengue/Severe dengue, Dracunculiasis, Echinococcosis, Foodborne trematodiases, Human African trypanosomiasis, Leishmaniasis, Leprosy, Lymphatic filariasis, Rabies, Schistosomiasis, Soil transmitted helminthiases, Taeniasis/Cysticercosis and Yaws. For more on neglected tropical diseases see the World Health Organization website.

Trachoma

This is one of a group known as neglected tropical diseases. It starts off as a highly contagious bacterial infection a bit like conjunctivitis and can be easily treated, but if it’s not, over time it makes your eyelashes turn inward so with every blink they’re scraping your eyeball. It’s unbearably painful and eventually causes blindness. About 40 million people currently have an active trachoma infection, mostly women and children.

*Guerin Media Ltd does not take responsibility for claims made in the advertisement. We encourage all Seniors Card holders to use discretion and to investigate credentials and references.

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