Our Shared Vision with The National Eye Institute to Fight Preventable Blindness

May is the National Eye Institute's (NEI) Healthy Vision Month. This year NEI is shining a light on the connection between vision loss and mental health. The theme for 2024 is Reframe Your Future, highlighting steps people with a visual impairment can take to live well with vision loss.

They shared some stark statistics on eye diseases and conditions that show our mission to fight preventable blindness in Southern California and Northern Mexico is more important than ever.

By 2050, NEI expects the number of people with visual impairment or blindness to double.

The amount of people with visual impairment or blindness is expected to double by 2050 according to statistics from NEI.

The prevalence of eye diseases will double as well. A cataract, for example, is a clouding of the lens in the eye that causes vision to deteriorate and requires surgical intervention to fix.

There were 24.4 million cases of cataracts in 2010. In 2050, that number will climb to over 50 million.

We are determined to spread awareness of this important conversation as it fits hand in hand with our own mission. We encourage you to check out all of NEI's Healthy Vision Month resources.

How Southern California Lions are Leading the Charge

Two Vision Screening Services, One Big Impact

Lions lead the way in the humanitarian vision screening space in Southern California and Northern Mexico. Friends in Sight delivers screenings to disadvantaged people more than twice per month, and our reach continues to grow every year.

Since 2011, Friends in Sight has provided over 100,000 pairs of glasses to disadvantaged men, women, and children, and identified ocular diseases in over 6,000 patients.

The Lions Club even has a program just for children! KidSight provides testing for grade school children at their schools.

Volunteers help identify children with poor but correctable vision, as well as sight-threatening visual conditions.

Between Friends In Sight and KidSight, Lions Clubs are having an incredible impact on vision health in Southern California and Northern Mexico. We're not just fighting to restore vision; we're fighting to restore independence and hope.

Will you join us in our fight? Lions, you can get involved simply by sharing this message. We're growing yearly thanks to new volunteers, equipment, and monetary donations. Take a look at what we accomplished in 2023 alone: