There are 285 million people worldwide who are visually impaired – of which about 40% are totally blind. About 90% of these people live in developing countries.
Some of the causes of vision impairment are cataracts, uncorrected refractive errors (short- and long-sightedness, and astigmatism), glaucoma, and poor hygiene.
Vision Beyond AUS works in India, Myanmar, Cambodia and Nepal to provide operations and train local people.
Each operation costs just $35.00, with every dollar going to operations and training – no money is deducted for administration. All administration is done by Fiducian Group Ltd free of charge.
Eye surgeons from Australia regularly travel to the four countries and pay all their own accommodation and travel expenses – again, so that all funds pay for operations and training.
Correcting vision impairment and blindness is crucial to people living in India, Myanmar, Cambodia and Nepal.
Many visually impaired people in these countries live in squalid slums. These people are considered a burden on the families because they need extra care and they cannot contribute to the families’ incomes.
More than 90% of them cannot work and either totally rely on their families to support them or are discarded, to live and beg on the streets. Their life expectancy drops to one-third of the average for their age group.