Sightsavers
International non-governmental organisation / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Sightsavers is an international non-governmental organisation that works with partners in developing countries to treat and prevent avoidable blindness, and promote equality for people with visual impairments and other disabilities. It is based in Haywards Heath in the United Kingdom, with branches in Sweden, Norway, India, Italy, Republic of Ireland, the United Arab Emirates, and the US.
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Founded | 1950; 74 years ago (1950) (as British Empire Society for the Blind) |
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Founder | John Wilson (blind activist) Lady Jean Wilson |
Type | INGO |
Location |
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Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Caroline Harper CBE (CEO)[1] Sir Clive Jones (Chair of Trustees)[2] Chris Whitty (Trustee) Dominic Haslam OBE (Director of Policy and Programme Strategy)[3] Simon Bush (Director Neglected Tropical Diseases)[4] |
Website | www |
The charity was founded in 1950 by Sir John Wilson and was originally called the British Empire Society for the Blind,[5] then the Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind. Its patron is Princess Alexandra.[6] Between 1950 and 2018, Sightsavers had distributed over 1 billion treatments to prevent potentially debilitating diseases [7] and supported 7.3 million sight-restoring cataract operations.[8]