Qatar Creating Vision provides 6.6 million eye tests and treatments

India and Bangladesh have some of the highest rates of childhood blindness in the world. In a bid to tackle this, in 2016 we launched Qatar Creating Vision which aims to reduce vision loss across the two countries, thanks to funding from Qatar Fund for Development.

Our aim was to provide 5.5 million eye tests and treatments within four years. However, thanks to the hard work of our amazing partners we’ve been able to deliver 1.1 million more screenings, glasses, surgeries and treatments than we hoped. This means even more children have been given the gift of clear sight and have been supported to continue their education.

In 2018, the programme expanded further to provide vital services for the Rohingya and local host communities in South East Bangladesh.

In the first three months of this year alone, over 22,000 people received eye tests and - shockingly - almost half required treatment. Many had never accessed eye care before.

Despite these successes, there remains a huge amount of work to do and we are continuing to learn, adapt and find ways to bring services closer to home for those who need it most.