Eye Care & Cataract Screening
Vision screening camps that identify cataract and refractive error, supply prescription glasses on site, and fund surgery for patients who cannot afford it.
Impact so far
9,200+
Eyes screened
1,140
Surgeries funded
3,600
Glasses dispensed
What it includes
- Visual acuity and refraction testing by trained optometrists
- Prescription glasses assembled and handed over the same day
- Cataract cases referred to partner hospitals with surgery costs covered
- Post-operative review at the next camp in the district
- School screening days for children with undetected refractive error
Cataract is the leading cause of avoidable blindness in Pakistan, and the operation that fixes it is neither long nor experimental. The barrier is almost never medical — it is that nobody screened the patient, and nobody could pay.
The screening day
An optometrist runs visual acuity testing and refraction. Anyone with a correctable error is measured on the spot and receives prescription glasses, assembled from a stock of lenses and frames we carry with us, before they leave.
Patients showing lens opacity are examined by an ophthalmologist and, where cataract is confirmed, entered onto the surgical list.
Surgery and after
Surgeries are performed at partner hospitals in Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar. The foundation covers the procedure, the intraocular lens, medication and the patient’s travel. An attendant travels with every patient.
Post-operative review happens at the next camp held in that district, which means the patient does not have to make a second journey to the city.
Schools
A growing share of our screening work happens in schools. Children who cannot read a blackboard are frequently recorded as poor students rather than as patients, and a pair of glasses changes the trajectory of their education far more cheaply than any other intervention we run.