The Foundation will restore sight to more than 1,000 people through a new eye health program in the Philippines.

The Foundation will soon begin working to strengthen local eye services in the Masbate province – a cluster of three islands set in the inland sea of the Philippines. The remote area lacks a permanent eye surgery facility.

“Because there is no permanent eye surgery unit in Masbate, people must travel long distances and spend a lot of money to receive treatment,” says The Foundation’s Ross Hardy.
 
“Most people in the province are poor and can’t afford to do this and many don’t even know that treatment is possible.

“We will be working with local partners to increase the availability of affordable eye care. We will provide surgical equipment, train eye care health staff, and raise community awareness of these services.”

Around 400,000 people in the Philippines are blind. More than 65 per cent suffer from cataract, a preventable eye condition where the lens of the eye clouds over, eventually causing blindness. The Foundation will also treat other eye conditions including blurred vision caused by refractive error.

On the Masbate islands, people live in simple thatched huts without electricity and must obtain their water from communal wells. With the main sources of livelihood being cattle farming and fishing, blindness can result in poverty and in some cases, early death.

The Foundation’s approach is to support existing local health services, with the view they will operate independently over time. The program in Masbate province is expected to become a model for future blindness prevention projects in the Philippines.