SightLife US Eye Bank is now a part of Lions World Vision Institute and SightLife International Programs are now a part of HCP Cureblindness. Learn more.
This website will not be updated as of May 1, 2023, but we want visitors to be able to access critical information during this interim phase.
Millions Suffer Worldwide
Needlessly in the Dark
More than 12.7 million people globally suffer from corneal blindness, making it one of the world’s leading causes of avoidable blindness. Most who are corneal blind live in low- and middle-income countries, where the condition goes beyond not being able to see. It also creates obstacles to staying in school, maintaining employment, and providing for one’s family. Navigating these challenges takes an emotional and financial toll, leading to cycles of poverty and reductions in life expectancy, often by as much as one-third.
But there is hope – more than 80 percent of corneal blindness is treatable and preventable.
At SightLife, we’ve seen firsthand the tears of joy that come when the bandages are removed following a corneal transplant, or blindness is prevented when corneal abrasions are treated with topical antibiotics. Around the world, sight restoration renews hope for an education, the dignity of work, a sustained livelihood, and a brighter, more independent future for patients and their families.
Learn More
12700000
people in the world are corneal blind
1500000
people suffer eye trauma that can lead to corneal blindness
350000
children are born with or later develop infections that cause corneal blindness each year
98%
of people globally who are corneal blind live in low-and middle-income countries
When ChandBee developed corneal blindness, she could no longer work as a farmer. Unable to support her children, they were placed in foster care. Fortunately, ChandBee received a sight-restoring corneal transplant through SightLife’s partner L.V. Prasad Eye Institute. Just one day after her transplant, ChaneBee could see again. She quickly returned to work and her family was reunited.
Durga’s infectious smile speaks volumes of him as a talented14-year old student and athlete. And yet, his life in Nepal was previously filled with darkness. An injury to his right cornea during a cricket match left him in the hospital fighting a raging infection that progressed to blindness. With a corneal transplant, he was back on track to enjoying his childhood and his studies.
Worldwide, women like Rose, a single mother from Kenya, are more likely to be vision impaired than men. One day Rose found herself unable to work due to pain and vision loss from a corneal ulcer. After months of agony, Rose was able to get a corneal transplant, which she says, “saved my life in so many ways—emotionally, socially and physically.”
Help Us Restore Sight and Deliver Hope.
Together, we can eliminate corneal blindness by 2040.
