Combat Blindness International, Inc.

Within the next 3 years, Combat Blindness International (CBI) wishes to make a major impact on restoring sight to the less fortunate in low-income countries through:

Increasing the number of men and women we screen and treat for cataracts and other eye conditions; increasing the number of children we screen and treat for refractive errors and eye conditions; and increasing the number of young women we can educate to become ophthalmic technicians and nurses.

CBI is and has targeted these efforts in India, Kenya, Mali, Namibia, Gambia, Nigeria, Botswana, South Africa, Brazil, Paraguay, Lebanon, Myanmar, and the United States.

CBI's strategy for accomplishing our goals is two-fold: work with partner clinics and hospital staff in developing countries to establish their needs and targeting donations from individuals in the United States to fulfill these needs in order to provide a sustainable and innovative solution to end avoidable blindness in the world.

Combat Blindness International (CBI) has partnered with hospitals, clinics and staff in low-income countries from five to thirty years. CBI is impressed with these organizations in regards to the care they give to the individuals they treat as well as their strategic and innovative thinking in order to make their work sustainable. These hospitals are not only an asset but also a pride of CBI's. These individuals are the hands and feet of the work we do.

CBI has also developed a core group of passionate and influential individuals to join the board of Combat Blindness International. These individuals work to assure that CBI reaches its goals as well as spreading the amazing work of CBI to their spheres of influence.

CBI has a core group of staff and volunteers that serve to ensure the organizations success.

This year, Combat Blindness International (CBI) is celebrating 37 years of service. In this time, CBI has screened more that 2.6 million men, women and children and supported nearly 372,000 cataract surgeries in 15 countries and on 4 continents. CBI has supported the education of over 500 young women to become ophthalmic technicians and nurses, and supported the building of 2 surgical centers in rural India. Finally, in the early 90’s Combat Blindness International was one of three NGOs to support the building of an intraocular lens and suture factory in Madurai, India, called Aurolab. Today, Aurolab provides intraocular lenses and sutures at cost to NGOs, including CBI, in 120 countries.

Over the next 3 years, we would like to expand our adult and pediatric eye programs to other countries in South America and Africa. In addition, we want to grow the ophthalmic technician/nurse program so that it may be replicated in other countries.