Blindness and visual impairment is in most cases a preventable personal affliction imposing a profound personal and economic burden on individuals, communities and countries. It is estimated to have a financial impact of over $400 billion dollars per year of lost economic production.
Over 1.1 billion people currently live with vision loss, over 90% live in LMICs.
Corneal blindness affects over a 12.5million people in both eyes with millions more blind in one eye. Fortunately, over 80% of the corneal blind are treatable with corneal transplantation. Its impact on quality of life, productivity and community participation is profound. Corneal Transplantation has a greater impact on an individual than cataract surgery.
In order to access quality Corneal Transplantation both a comprehensive Eye Banking system as well as access to trained Corneal Transplant Fellows, is necessary.
Unfortunately, a vast majority of individuals are denied access to this life-changing therapy and are condemned to a lifetime of blindness.
Eyesight International is the only charity in the world that focuses exclusively on Eyebanking
and Corneal Transplantation. ESI’s goals are to supply universal access to all those in need with quality tissue and surgery. The aim is for local self-sustainability. These goals are consistent with The Sustainable Development Goals and Universal Health Care as defined by WHO.