Swiss Red Cross Giving the Gift of Eyesight

Swiss Red Cross Giving the Gift of Eyesight

Blindness has enormous social and economic consequences in developing countries. The Swiss Red Cross is actively engaged in the prevention and cure of poverty-induced blindness.

There are 40 million blind people worldwide - and every five seconds the number increases by one more. Most blind people are poor and live in the southern hemisphere. The principal cause of their blindness is cataract, a disease that can be cured or prevented by very modest means. In order to help them, the SRC is taking part in the international Vision 2020 campaign for the prevention and cure of poverty-induced blindness.

The SRC has been engaged in Asia and Africa in the prevention of blindness in rural regions with insufficient medical care for more than 25 years. The focus is on:

• Building and equipping regional eye clinics and district eye units
• Curing eye diseases with operations and treatment
• Education and further training of local specialists and volunteer workers
• Prevention of eye disease through education in schools and village communities
• Procurement and supply of patient buses and project vehicles or bicycles and motorcycles for eye-care workers and volunteers

With a donation of just 10’000 Points you can give a blind person an eye operation.

Thank you for supporting SRC’s Giving the Gift of Eyesight!