Lions' vision programs help fight blindness

Campaign SightFirst II is the international vision for all Lions Clubs. The primary goal is to control and eliminate all major causes of blindness worldwide: to develop comprehensive eye care services and to eliminate infectious eye diseases as a cause for blindness.

To meet this goal, Lions must address and combat emerging threats to sight. Campaign SightFirst II will strengthen low vision services, work to eliminate childhood blindness, develop sustainable approaches to refractive error in children and develop new capacities for controlling glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy.

The challenges are huge; today 37 million people worldwide are blind and another 124 million suffer from low vision.

While this is a smaller figure than addressed 15 years ago with the very successful SightFirst I, it still is an alarming and tragic number. With SightFirst I Lions have changed the world. They have reversed the numbers of blind and low-vision people world wide.

Millions see well today and millions more will see due to this campaign. The numbers are still daunting, but think what they would be if the Lions had not taken this first initiative.

As we all know, people's health and vision are affected by age. In just 14 years, more than 2 billion people worldwide will be older than 45. We have to address the increasing number of cataracts, glaucoma and diabetic eye disease which can bring about blindness in this senior population. If we do nothing, by 2020 the number of blind will double to 74 million and those with low vision will grow to nearly 250 million.

The Lions of the world have taken on this challenge through Campaign SightFirst II. Each Lion and each club around the world has the ability to reach out and help those afflicted with blindness. CSFII has a minimum goal of $150 million. There are no administrative fees attached to donations. Dollar for dollar, all funds raised will go to fighting blindness. You might note, many grants from SightFirst I went to eye care and research in the United States with several grants going into New Jersey.

If we exceed our minimum goal, any additional funds will be used to provide vision for all to: fund rehabilitation efforts and education for the already blind; to invest in research initiatives at Lions Eye Research Institutes; and to expand and enhance Lions sight programs for high-risk populations in developed countries.

Rich Zimmerman

NJ Lions Multiple District 16