What a Year: Cure Blindness Project Releases 2023 Annual Report

2023 marked another successful year for Cure Blindness Project as it continued to expand its impact across South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa to help people retain and restore their sight.

We hope you’ll take a few minutes to read our newly released annual report. An online copy can be found here. Designed with our new name and bold colors, we want you to feel the energy in our shared stories as we highlight successes made possible through partnerships, generous donors, our team and others’ combined vision to eradicate avoidable blindness where it exists in the world.

Investments in Local Capacity

Rooted in academic excellence, Cure Blindness Project leans into the experience and expertise of our academic institutions to design and lead high-quality training for medical staff in the regions where we work. Our spotlight article highlights our long-standing partnership with Stanford University and how it’s helping across a range of disciplines.

LIVE Classroom continued to elevate resident training in 2023 by providing comprehensive instruction (both lectures, online and hands-on). In total, Cure Blindness Project trained 1,850 providers including ophthalmologists, optometrists, ophthalmic nurses, rural health workers and others.

Infrastructure and Equipment to Elevate Eye Care

Last year, Cure Blindness Project (and the groundwork led by acquired SightLife International) opened the first eye bank in West Africa. This critical infrastructure allows for the collection, storage and distribution of needed tissue for sight-restoring cornea transplants.

In addition, Cure Blindness Project procured over $3 million in high-quality equipment to diagnose and treat avoidable blindness in 2023. This investment shows our continued commitment to strengthening eye care systems today and in the future.

Retaining and Restoring Sight Across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia

Cure Blindness Project-supported partners conducted more than 2 million eye screenings and basic treatment and performed more than 169,000 sight-restoring surgeries throughout South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

Prevention Milestones Achieved in 2023

Prevention efforts are stopping treatable eye diseases from progressing to blindness. Last year, we celebrated several big milestones: each telling its own story of sight retained.

In June, more than 50,000 men, women and children had been successfully treated for corneal abrasions. By September, more than 200,000 patients had received a sight-restoring cornea transplant. By October, Sightlife International-led efforts to train community health workers resulted in a total of 100,000 patients screened. These milestones reflect years of effort.

We invite you to read the full report and join us in celebrating the life-changing impact that was made possible through the generosity of donors.