Cataract Research Projects

Cataract surgery is an extremely cost-effective healthcare intervention. Around 50% of people living with avoidable blindness need a 10-minute cataract surgery to regain their sight. Recovering from cataract allows people to rejoin society and contribute economically to their households. Our cataract research aims to understand who is suffering with the disease, why, and what barriers there are to them accessing care.

Cataract Impact Study 

Although it is assumed that people with visual impairment are likely to experience poorer quality of life, there was little evidence of this from low-income countries. The study aimed to address this gap in knowledge and the findings highlight key benefits of cataract surgery to a population of older adults in low-income countries after one year.

Effective Cataract Surgical Coverage

Effective cataract surgical coverage (eCSC) measures the number of people in a population who have been operated on for cataract, and had a good outcome, as a proportion of all people operated on or requiring surgery. We generated new estimates of eCSC and CSC as a reference point to start monitoring towards WHO’s 2030 target.