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In 1990, Lions established SightFirst, a $143.5 million global initiative to fight the major causes of preventable and reversible blindness. The unprecedented program joins Lions volunteers with blindness prevention experts and organizations and governments.

 

SightFirst has:

•    provided more than 7.6 million cataract surgeries

•     built or expanded 300 eye hospitals

•     supported more than 131 million treatments to prevent river blindness

•     improved eye care in 102 countries around the world.

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Lions clubs support other sight-related activities. Lions clubs and members:

•     provide 600,000 free professional glaucoma screenings and make 25,000 corneal transplants possible each year

•     establish and support a majority of the world’s eye banks, hundreds of clinics, hospitals and eye research centers worldwide

•     collect more than 6 million pairs of used eyeglasses annually for free distribution to those in need in developing countries

•     offer screenings, eyeglasses and sports goggles to athletes through the Special Olympics-Lions Clubs International Opening Eyes Program

•     provide free quality eye care, eyeglasses, Braille-writers, large print texts, white canes and guide dogs for thousands of people each year.​