Kausar Kausar's trachoma was cured by a simple course of antibiotic eye drops and regular washing of her face and hands © Jamshyd Masud / Sightsavers

Causes of blindness

When you think about it, the very act of actually seeing the world around us is an astonishing thing. It relies on the interaction between the brain and the eyeball, two extraordinarily complex organs, so it's hardly surprising that there are so many ways in which we can suffer sight loss or reduction.

Cataract

River blindness

Trachoma

Childhood blindness

Diabetic retinopathy

Glaucoma

Low vision

Achievements

 

Working with our partners in 2010, we helped to:

• Protect over 23 million people against river blindness
• Perform over 270,000 sight-restoring cataract operations
• Treat over a million people with antibiotics for trachoma