Globally, one person goes blind every five seconds—and one child loses his or her sight every minute. Of the 45 million blind people in the world today, almost half of them could receive their sight through a one-hour operation.

The consequences of blindness include severe economic and social suffering. The World Health Organization states that 80% of blindness results from causes that were preventable or could now be reversed. But most of the world’s blind – some 90% – live in impoverished nations where even minimal eye care is inaccessible.

Mercy Ships ophthalmic surgeons perform critical eye surgeries affording patients renewed sight and improved quality of life, and train local surgeons in the removal of cataracts, eviscerations and correction of strabismus.

Reading, sewing, driving – these and other necessary daily tasks become difficult or impossible for someone with poor vision. Thousands of men, women and children in developing nations are unable to afford basic eye care. Mercy Ships eye teams conduct free clinics for the poor, diagnosing eye conditions and providing basic medical care.

Since 1978, Mercy Ships crew has:

• performed more than 61,000 life-changing operations such as cleft lip and palate repair, cataract removal, orthopaedic procedures, facial reconstruction and obstetric fistula repair.