Campaign SightFirst II
Lions Clubs International is recognised worldwide for its service to the blind and visually impaired. This service began through a challenge issued in 1925 by Helen Keller, the great advocate for the blind, for Lions to become "Knights of the Blind in the crusade against darkness". In 1930 Lions introduced the White Cane, still universally used by the visually impaired.
In 1990 Lions Clubs International launched its most aggressive sight preservation effort, SightFirst, raising US$150 million to rid the world of preventable and reversable blindness by supporting desperately needed health care services. Over the last three years Lions worldwide have raised an additional US$200 million as part of our Campaign SightFirst II programme, which builds on the achievements of SightFirst. With around 42 million people suffering from blindness in the world today, Lions internationally realised that many suffered from illnesses, conditions and problems which were generally not too difficult to treat successfully using relatively simple processes.
The Lions Eye Health Programme (LEHP) is a community-based educational outreach programme that enables Lions Clubs to raise awareness of the leading causes of preventable and reversible blindness in the British Isles and Ireland - diabetic eye disease; glaucoma; macular degenerative disease; and all low vision diseases.
With CSFII, Lions seek to continue to change the world through sight preservation. SightFirst has been extraordinarily effective, but Lions' dream of providing "Vision for All" has not yet been realized. The growth and ageing of the world's population create new challenges. Changing patterns of eye disease, barely discernable when SightFirst began, have become serious threats to sight around the world.
Cataract, a disease closely tied to ageing, remains the world's leading cause of blindness. Childhood blindness and low vision are at an all-time high. River blindness and trachoma, which take the sight of millions, can be controlled, but increased global awareness and funding are required. Diabetes and glaucoma silently stalk the vision of millions who may not even know.
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