The chief executive of Sightsavers, Dr Caroline Harper, talks to OT’s Emily McCormick about the charity’s goals past, present and future
Established in 1950, Sightsavers was founded by Sir John Wilson, a visually impaired man who worked for the National Institute of the Blind.
Sir John was blinded during an accident in the chemistry laboratory at school at the age of 12. While he had learned to adapt to life without his sight growing up and working in the UK, he was shocked at the scale of avoidable blindness and the lack of support which he witnessed during a nine-month tour of Africa and the Middle East.
“Sir John realised it was even more difficult for those living in developing countries, such as Africa, and naturally wanted to help,” explained Sightsavers’ chief executive, Dr Caroline Harper.
On returning to the UK, Sir John expressed his concerns to his employer who felt that, unfortunately, it was outside the remit of the Institute’s work. Undeterred, the officer took action himself and established the British Empire Society for the Blind, with the overarching purpose of helping blind people living in the Commonwealth.
The Society was later renamed the Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind, which remains the charity’s official title. However, today, it is more widely known as Sightsavers – a name which Dr Harper feels, “does what it says on the tin.”
What is in a name
The charity’s popular moniker, Sightsavers, emerged by chance following a television appeal in the early 1990s.  
Dr Harper explained: “We were about to embark on an appeal with Blue Peter, but the programme’s producers felt that its young audience wouldn’t understand or remember our name.
 “The campaign was called ‘Be a sightsaver,’ with the concept that the donors would be ‘sightsavers.’ It was suggested that we use ‘Sightsavers’ as our name for the campaign and it was so effective that we decided to adopt it for the charity afterwards.”
 While that charity has been widely known as Sightsavers ever since, Dr Harper pointed out that it still uses its registered Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind title when appropriate.
 Ever growing
Since the charity was established, its purpose has “very much” remained the same, confirmed Dr Harper, who has lead the charity for nine years. However, “we have developed as our capabilities have increased in line with the needs of the countries and the people we were established to help,” she added.
 
The charity’s work can be described as a three-tiered approach. It works towards preventing blindness in developing countries, supporting equality and campaigning for change.
 
In each area it has achieved success. A notable recent triumph was gained through the charity’s Put Us in the Picture campaign. An initiative which is calling on the UK Government to include people with disabilities in its global development plans, the campaign has so far secured over 13,000 signatures and last month the Government pledged just this; to include people with disabilities in its development programmes.
 
Over the last 64 years, Sightsavers’ achievements include the support of more than 298 million treatments for blinding and potentially blinding conditions, the performing of 8.4 million operations to restore sight and the training of over half a million people on eye health courses.
 
Dr Harper revealed that “the charity has grown pretty much every year since we were established to the present day.”
 
With growth, the work of charity has naturally progressed. “While the charity was initially established to help blind people, it very quickly began investing in research investigating the prevalence of blindness and its causes,” Dr Harper explained.
 
Today, an estimated 80–85% of the charity’s turnover is spent on the provision of treatment to prevent and cure blindness. “As soon as it became more affordable to provide treatments for blinding diseases, that is what we began doing,” Dr Harper informed OT.
 
Programme work
The charity’s entire portfolio of programme work takes place in developing countries. “Our charter is clear that we work in the developing world, while what we do in the UK and Europe involves campaigning and fundraising,” Dr Harper explained.
 
Present in 37 countries, including large parts of Africa and the India subcontinent, Dr Harper is open about the fact that she would like to see this work expanded to some of the areas of greatest need. However, “with conflict in many of these parts of the world,” she said, “there are areas which are very difficult to work in, or have an impact in.”
 
Over the last few years the largest expansion to Sightsavers’ programme work has been in neglected tropical diseases , two of which if left untreated, can lead to blindness. The diseases largely focused on are trachoma and onchocerciasis (more widely known as river blindness).
 
While the treatment of diseases which lead to avoidable blindness has always been part of what the charity does, until recently it had thought that treatment was about control. However, in 2010, data showed that the elimination of river blindness would be possible, and consequently the charity’s work was stepped up.
 
“When we realised that it was going to be possible to eliminate river blindness and get rid of it forever, we decided a concerted push was required,” Dr Harper told OT.
 
Elimination could come as soon as 2015 for some countries, Dr Harper said, “while for others it will take longer, until 2025, perhaps.” This is reinforced by evidence that in large parts of Nigeria “the parasite can no longer be detected, or is detected only in very low levels, in humans” she added.
 
Fundraising
In 2014 Sightsavers’ turnover will be close to £50m which will be achieved through a combination of grants and fundraising.
 
“While the big grants that we have secured in recent years have been amazing, the bedrock of what Sightsavers does comes from individuals, without whom we would not have the capacity to go after the big grants,” Dr Harper admitted.
 
Headquartered in Sussex, the UK is Sightsavers’ most important marketplace when it comes to fundraising, an income generator which it places great importance on.
 
The charity also has fundraising offices in Ireland, Italy and India, and has recently opened a base in Sweden.   We do a limited amount of fundraising in the US, and promote the cause of prevention of blindness in the Middle East. 
 
When asked about further expansion, Dr Harper said that the question remains about whether it should enter other countries However, “we are present in quite a few countries now and I want to ensure that we make them a success,” she said. “If we try to spread ourselves too thinly, we won’t be successful anywhere.”
 
Optometry not ophthalmology
Having invested heavily in the treatment of neglected tropical diseases in recent years, an area which Dr Harper wishes to see an increased focus on next is refractive error.
 
“I have always been very clear that refractive error should become an increasing part of Sightsavers’ work because, while statistics show that cataract is still the biggest cause of avoidable vision impairment, uncorrected refractive error is not far behind.”
 
In the past the charity has helped treat refractive error by establishing vision centres in government hospitals in the countries it works. Aware that this work needs to be expanded to achieve impact, Dr Harper explained that for it to be upscaled and remain cost effective, a scheme must be created in partnership with the private sector.
 
True to her word, two years ago the charity recruited optometrist Imran Khan as a programme development advisor. Since taking up the role, Mr Khan has been leading a technical team, which looks, among other things, at models and approaches to the delivery of eye care to treat refractive error.
 
“We hope to be able to share more on this in six months time,” Dr Harper concluded with a smile.
 
For more information about Sightsavers, visit www.sightsavers.ne

SOURCE: Optometry.co.uk