Eye Health

En français

There are over 28 million cases of preventable blindness worldwide. HKI is dedicated to solving problems associated with the prevention of blindness and/or visual impairment. In underserved areas of the world, the enormous personal, social, and economic consequences of blindness and visual impairment often condemn otherwise healthy individuals to lives of poverty and dependence.

Trachoma, the number one cause of infectious blindness, afflicts about 84 million people with active infection and another 8 million are visually impaired. With investment trachoma can be prevented through simple measures that ensure proper hygiene, clean water and adequate sanitation.

Onchocerciasis is the world’s second leading infectious cause of blindness. Although it is rarely life-threatening, it causes chronic suffering, severe disability and is a serious obstacle to socioeconomic development. In Africa, 37 million people are infected with onchocerciasis, and 89 million are at risk of infection.

Cataract, which is treatable although not preventable, accounts for 48% of all blindness, or approximately 18 million people. Childhood blindness is caused by a variety of conditions, including congenital cataract. There are as many as 1.5 million blind children in the world, of which one million live in Asia and at least 300,000 in Africa.

Severe refractive errors have been estimated to account for approximately 5 million blind people. In addition, an estimated 124 million people in the world must live with low vision. Children who can't see properly usually have difficulty succeeding in school, impacting their future opportunities.

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