We work with the government and partners in Pakistan and across South Asia to provide inclusive eye services and ensure everyone can claim their human rights.
We work with the government and partners in Pakistan and across South Asia to provide inclusive eye services and ensure everyone can claim their human rights.
Pakistan is the fifth most populated country in the world, with around 40 per cent of the population living in urban areas.
Despite being one of the first countries in South Asia to adopt a national eye care strategy, 21 million people in Pakistan are thought to have vision loss caused by common eye conditions such as cataracts, refractive error and glaucoma.
While educational attendance is improving, Pakistan still has one of the world’s highest rates of children not enrolled in school. Many students who attend primary school drop out of education when they reach secondary level, with girls and children with disabilities most at risk.
In 2020, the country’s first-ever disability rights act became law. The following year, the Government of Pakistan launched a braille version of the country’s constitution and adapted Parliament House using Sightsavers’ accessibility audit toolkit to make the building more accessible for people with disabilities. The government has also added 67 disability indicators to its national dashboard showing progress on the Sustainable Development Goals.
Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness in Pakistan.
Many people in Pakistan have sight loss due to common eye conditions that can be treated or prevented with the right medical care. Sightsavers’ eye health work in the country aims to provide inclusive eye care services by diagnosing and treating eye conditions such as cataracts and glaucoma.
Not everyone in Pakistan can claim their place in society.
Many people with disabilities in Pakistan live in poverty, yet living in poverty also increases a person’s chance of having a disability. Our charity work on disability rights in Pakistan focuses on improving education and employment opportunities for everyone.
Our charity work in Pakistan is helping to ensure that everyone can access vital eye care and claim their human rights, but there’s still more we need to do.
With your support, we want to expand our eye health and social inclusion programmes to create a ripple effect in Pakistan, so everyone can learn, earn and thrive. To do this, we need your help.
Charity donations, legacies, corporate partnerships and gifts from charitable foundations are a vital source of funding for our programmes in Pakistan. We also welcome opportunities to work in partnership with governments, institutions and development organisations.
Contact us: If you have any questions about our work in Pakistan, would like more details about our programmes or wish to discuss ways to donate or support us, email [email protected]
Zahra is one of the many children now thriving thanks to a Sightsavers programme to screen school students for eye conditions and health problems.
Noor, a short film about the impact of childhood visual impairment, has been selected for the ‘Best health film’ category at the Cannes World Film Festival.
The charitable foundation is raising £35,000 for Sightsavers’ work in Pakistan through its Sprint for Sight campaign.
In Pakistan and Bangladesh, the Right to Health project worked with transgender communities to remove the barriers they face when accessing inclusive eye health services.
Our country office teams in Pakistan and Kenya spoke to the organisations of people with disabilities they work with about their hopes for the upcoming Global Disability Summit.
Father and grandfather Sardar from Pakistan is the main breadwinner for his family. But his children and grandchildren faced an uncertain future when he began to develop cataracts.