UMR successfully conducted over 1,000 cataract surgeries. Help us reach 5,000 new patients by the end of 2020

Key Facts & Figures:

• Cataract accounts for 30%-50% of blindness in most African and Asian countries.
• Every dollar spent towards eliminating blindness and correcting vision in developing countries returns a four-fold on investment in economic terms. This places eliminating avoidable blindness among the most effective interventions available.
• Cataract surgeries are some of the most impactful on a person’s quality of life and require no follow up visits to a doctor.

Overview:

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cataract is the leading cause of blindness and visual impairment worldwide. It accounts for nearly 20 million cases, with nearly 5 million new cases each year. 

The majority of people with cataracts are found in the developing world. The major reasons are –

• Lack of access to adequate healthcare facilities, and 
• Lack of ability to afford this low-cost surgery.

Most treated cases need as little as 15 minutes. Even though cataract operations have virtually no recovery time, the number of people with preventable blindness continues to grow.

Since 2016, UMR has been sending medical missions to places like Kenya, Jordan, and Bangladesh to perform cataract surgeries on patients in need. UMR has helped to restore the gift of sight to curable blind cases by providing quality medical care services to some of the most underprivileged including the elderly, disabled, refugees and vulnerable people in the community, many of whom live without any support from their relatives and governments. Under this initiative, in coordination with partner NGOs and Ministries of Health, over 1,000 cataract surgeries have been successfully performed free of cost to date thanks to our generous donors. Our surgeries have been 100% successful with no recurring complications, and cost as little as $100 per eye.

I want to thank all of you for donating to this campaign as I have been blind for 6 years. My right eye was damaged by a rock when I was digging a well and now my only eye that was working has been slowly losing sight from cataracts… Soloman (70 years old)

Project Objective:

The goal of this project is to restore the eyesight of 5,000 people in Jordan and Kenya with cataracts. We want to do it by the end of 2020. In addition to cataract surgery, UMR will provide-

• eye exams, 
• glasses and 
• other rehabilitation 

Refugees and others who cannot afford the cost of these medical care services and procedures can gain treatment from us.

Our Impact:

One of the best ways to help people get out of poverty is to treat preventable blindness like cataracts and bad vision. This is especially true for vulnerable groups like refugees living in temporary housing. They regain their independence and confidence to approach economic opportunities and education. 

UMR and partners have restored eyesight to people who thought they would never be able to see again. We need to continue this work. There are thousands of people out there in great need of hope and a chance to see again.