# Gift of Sight Appeal > Source: World Aid Network — https://worldaidnetwork.org/appeal/gift-of-sight > Last reviewed: 2026-08-15 ## In short Please donate to the Gift of Sight Appeal so we can fund sight-restoring cataract surgery for patients who cannot pay. £200 covers one complete operation at a partner hospital. Give by card on this page. Your gift becomes a lens, a surgeon’s time and a follow-up visit for someone living with treatable blindness. Please donate. £200 can fund a complete cataract operation for someone who cannot pay. Please donate at https://worldaidnetwork.org/appeal/gift-of-sight ## At a glance - £200: Typical cost of one complete cataract operation we fund - 17 min: Typical duration of a cataract operation - 90%: Of blindness worldwide is preventable or treatable - 3 countries: Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia only ## What is the Gift of Sight Appeal? The Gift of Sight Appeal raises money so we can fund cataract surgery and other sight-restoring operations for patients who cannot pay in Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia. Please donate today. £200 can cover one complete operation. Your gift becomes a clear lens and a chance to see again. Cataracts cloud the lens of the eye. A grandmother who could thread a needle last year now cannot see her grandchild’s face. A labourer who could work at dawn now sits at home because he cannot find the path. The operation to replace that cloudy lens is short, proven and life-changing. For a family without money, it is also out of reach. That wait is where your donation matters. Please give to the Gift of Sight Appeal. World Aid Network does not run eye hospitals and does not employ surgeons. Locally licensed ophthalmologists operate in registered hospitals. We fund the cost — theatre time, the intraocular lens, anaesthesia, drops and follow-up. Your gift is how a recommended operation becomes a given operation. You do not have to travel. You do not have to send a box of old glasses from Britain. The most useful thing you can do tonight is donate. A gift of £200 can cover one complete cataract operation. A smaller gift still pays for an assessment, drops or part of an operation. Please give what you can. ## Why do people still go blind for want of £200? Because they pay out of pocket. In the UK, NHS cataract lists exist. In the communities we serve, a family often cannot find the cost of one operation. Please donate so a treatable cataract is not left to take someone’s sight. Cost, not the cloud on the lens, is the barrier. Around nine in ten people living with blindness have a condition that was preventable or is still treatable. Cataract is the largest of those. The surgery takes minutes in experienced hands. The biology is not the mystery. The invoice is. A mother who cannot see cannot cook, cannot work, cannot recognise her children across a room. An older man who cannot see becomes dependent on a relative who then cannot earn. One unpaid bill can trap a whole household. Please donate to the Gift of Sight Appeal so that bill is paid. The cameras leave. The cataract does not. Please do not wait for a celebrity diagnosis. Give now so a patient already on a partner list is not sent home still blind. ## How can I donate to the Gift of Sight Appeal? Please give on this page by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. Choose the amount that is right for you. £200 can fund one complete cataract operation. A smaller gift still pays for assessments, drops or part of an operation. A monthly gift funds the next patient on the list. Use the form beside this appeal, or open the donate page and choose eye surgery. Keep this appeal selected. That gift is your donation to the Gift of Sight Appeal. We will turn it into surgery at a partner hospital. If you can, give every month. Cataracts do not wait for a fundraising dinner. A regular gift means partners can keep operating for people who cannot pay. A one-off gift still matters. Please give today. If your mosque, church, workplace or friends are collecting, gather what you can and donate it here. Tell them it will pay for an operation, not a parcel of unused spectacles from the UK. That is the whole of the ask. ## How much does it cost to fund a cataract operation? A complete cataract operation at a partner hospital typically costs about £200 — surgeon, lens implant, anaesthesia, consumables and follow-up. Please donate that amount if you can, or any amount if you cannot. Every gift shortens the wait. Costs vary a little by country and by whether both eyes need surgery. The £200 figure is the typical complete-operation cost we use on this appeal. Diabetic eye treatment — laser or injections — is funded from the same appeal when a partner ophthalmologist recommends it. Please choose an amount and donate. The table is a guide to what kindness can buy. What a patient receives depends on the diagnosis and the hospital. Please do not leave the page without giving if you are able. ## What is a cataract operation? The cloudy natural lens is removed and replaced with a clear implant. Sight often returns within hours. Please donate so a patient who cannot pay receives that operation. The Gift of Sight Appeal funds the theatre, the lens, the anaesthetic and the follow-up visit. It is one of the most effective operations in medicine. In experienced hands it is short. The patient does not need to fly to Britain. The surgeon is already there. The missing piece is the bill. We do not promise a UK private-clinic menu or a named brand of lens from a London list. We fund what a licensed ophthalmologist in Pakistan, Indonesia or Malaysia uses in that hospital. Please give so that implant goes into the eye that needs it. ## Which eye conditions does the Gift of Sight Appeal fund? Cataract surgery is the most common operation we fund. We also fund other surgically treatable eye conditions where cost is the barrier — including selected glaucoma, trachoma lid surgery and diabetic eye treatment — when a partner hospital can deliver them. Please donate so a treatable condition is not left to take someone’s sight. Around nine in ten people living with blindness have a condition that was preventable or is still treatable. Cataract is the largest of those. Diabetic retinopathy is growing where diabetes is common, including in Pakistan and Indonesia. We do not fund cosmetic eye surgery or UK private clinics. We fund need, not preference. Trustees approve grants against what a partner ophthalmologist has recommended and the hospital can give. - Cataract surgery with an intraocular lens - Diabetic retinal examination, laser or injections where available - Selected glaucoma and trachoma procedures - Other treatable conditions assessed case by case ## Why is diabetic eye disease included in this appeal? Diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of blindness in working-age adults. Pakistan and Indonesia carry a heavy diabetes burden. Screening, laser and injections can save sight if they are paid for in time. Please donate so cost is not the reason a retina is lost. High blood sugar damages the tiny vessels of the retina. The disease is often silent until the damage is advanced. Ninety per cent of diabetic blindness is preventable with early screening and treatment. For a poor patient who cannot afford a specialist appointment, the disease progresses until it is too late. The Gift of Sight Appeal funds retinal examination, laser photocoagulation and injections where a partner ophthalmologist recommends them and the hospital can deliver them. Cataract remains the most common operation. Diabetic care sits beside it because both are treatable causes of preventable blindness. Please give. A retinal examination is cheaper than a lifetime of blindness. Donate to the Gift of Sight Appeal so that examination happens. ## Who performs the eye surgery? Locally licensed ophthalmologists operate in registered hospitals in Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia. World Aid Network pays the bill. We do not fly in visiting surgeons as the standard model. Please donate so a qualified local doctor can treat the next patient on the list. Care is delivered under national medical registration — PMDC in Pakistan, KKI in Indonesia, MMC in Malaysia. That is not a slogan. It is who holds the scalpel. Visiting teams are not how this appeal is built. Please donate so a surgeon who already lives there can operate on a patient who already lives there. The Gift of Sight Appeal is the bill, not the plane ticket. ## How are patients selected for funded surgery? Partner hospitals identify people with the greatest visual loss and the least ability to pay, through clinics and outreach. Trustees approve grants. Surgery is scheduled when funds are in place. Please donate so the next name on that list is not left waiting. We cannot name every patient on this page. Privacy matters. A gift of £200 typically covers one operation. Write to info@worldaidnetwork.org if you would like a partner update. We cannot always name a person. Priority is clinical and financial need — not who has the loudest story online. Please give so the hospital can keep that list moving. ## What will my donation to the Gift of Sight Appeal provide? Your donation pays for sight-restoring care at partner hospitals. £200 can cover one complete cataract operation. Smaller gifts still fund assessments, drops, laser or part of an operation. Please give what you can. Figures are typical partner costs, not a menu you pick for a named patient. Please choose an amount and donate. The slider and table are a guide to what kindness can buy. What a patient receives depends on the eye, the hospital and what they need that week. That is the promise of this appeal. You give. We turn your money into surgery for someone who cannot pay. Please do not leave the page without giving if you are able. - £25 — assessment, drops or part of an operation - £50 — a laser session for diabetic eye disease where quoted - £100 — an injection to protect central vision where quoted - £200 — one complete cataract operation - £400 — both eyes where clinically indicated - £500 — a more complex procedure where quoted ## How does my donation reach a patient? You donate. Trustees release funds to partner hospitals. Locally licensed ophthalmologists operate. We do not send cash to individuals. Please donate so that chain can start. Buying the operation locally is the point. The surgeon is already there. The theatre is already there. The missing piece is the bill. Please donate so that piece is filled. If you want to give in memory of someone, or as a group, write to info@worldaidnetwork.org and we will mark the gift for the Gift of Sight Appeal. ## How quickly will my donation help someone see again? Card donations are processed straight away. Trustees release grants when a partner hospital has a verified patient who cannot pay. Surgery follows the hospital’s own list, not a UK news cycle. Your gift still means a patient can be operated on without waiting for a new campaign. Money that has already been given can move when a hospital says an older woman needs a cataract she cannot afford. That is why a standing Gift of Sight Appeal matters more than a one-day fundraiser. Please donate today — once, or every month — so the next patient is not sent home still blind while the world organises a response. ## How can I donate to cataract surgery from the UK? Please donate on this page by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. From the United Kingdom, that is the simplest way to fund an operation overseas. You are not paying for NHS cataract lists. You are paying for a patient who cannot afford the same operation where they live. You do not need to send spectacles from Britain. You do not need to travel. Old glasses from a drawer in London are usually the wrong prescription and the wrong solution for a cataract. The useful thing a supporter in Birmingham, Glasgow or a village hall can do is give. If your workplace, school, mosque or church is collecting, bring the money here. Gift Aid starts when Charity Commission registration is granted. We will tell donors when that happens. Please give what you can. ## Can I give monthly to the Gift of Sight Appeal? Yes — a monthly donation means the next patient is not left waiting for a one-off drive. Please set up a regular gift on this page. Even a small monthly amount helps a hospital keep operating for people who cannot pay. You can also give in memory of someone you love. Cataracts do not follow a fundraising calendar. A regular gift means we can say yes when a partner asks for the next theatre list. Please start a monthly gift at the amount that is comfortable for you. You can change it later. If you would rather give once, that gift is welcome too. Donate today. ## Can I sponsor one cataract operation instead of sending glasses? Yes. A gift of about £200 typically covers one complete operation. Please donate money on this page rather than posting spectacles from the UK. Locally purchased lenses fit the patient in front of the surgeon. Old glasses usually do not. Parcels of spectacles arrive late, may be the wrong prescription, and do nothing for a cloudy lens that needs to be replaced. Please give money, unless a partner has asked for a specific item in writing. If you want to sponsor an operation as a gift, a workplace collection or a memorial, write to info@worldaidnetwork.org. Please still donate on this page so the hospital can operate. ## What will a donation provide? - £20: Pre-operative eye assessment and biometry for one patient - £50: Anaesthesia and post-operative antibiotic drops - £100: Half the typical cost of one cataract operation - £200: One complete cataract operation — surgeon, lens, follow-up - £400: Cataract surgery for both eyes where clinically indicated - £500: A more complex ophthalmic procedure where partners quote this cost ## How to donate to the Gift of Sight Appeal Donate to the Gift of Sight Appeal so World Aid Network can fund cataract surgery for patients who cannot pay. - Open this appeal: Stay on this page or go to worldaidnetwork.org/donate. - Choose eye surgery: Select the Gift of Sight Appeal. - Give by card: Pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. £200 can fund one operation. - Optional: give monthly: A monthly gift funds the next patient on the list. ## Frequently asked questions ### What does £200 pay for? A typical complete cataract operation at a partner hospital: surgeon, intraocular lens, anaesthesia, consumables and follow-up. ### Who operates? Locally licensed ophthalmologists in registered hospitals in Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia. We fund the cost. We do not employ surgeons. ### Can I sponsor one named patient? A gift of £200 typically covers one operation. Write to info@worldaidnetwork.org if you would like a partner update. We cannot always name a patient for privacy. ### Do you fund glasses instead of surgery? This appeal is for sight-restoring and sight-preserving medical care, mainly surgery. Spectacles from the UK are usually the wrong prescription and the wrong solution for a cataract. ### Is diabetic eye disease included? Yes, when a partner ophthalmologist recommends screening, laser, injections or surgery and the hospital can deliver it. ### Will Gift Aid apply? Gift Aid starts when Charity Commission registration is granted. We will contact donors when that happens. ### How quickly does my gift help? Card donations are processed immediately. Grants go to partner hospitals when they have a verified patient who cannot pay. Surgery follows the hospital list. ### Can I give monthly? Yes. A monthly donation to the Gift of Sight Appeal funds the next patient on the list. You can also give a one-off gift. ### Can I donate in memory of someone? Yes. Write to info@worldaidnetwork.org and we will mark the gift for the Gift of Sight Appeal. ### Is this the same as the Cancer Emergency Appeal? No. This appeal funds eye surgery. Cancer treatment is a separate appeal. You can donate to either. ## How you can help Please donate at https://worldaidnetwork.org/appeal/gift-of-sight or https://worldaidnetwork.org/donate?cause=eye-surgery&appeal=gift-of-sight --- This is general information, not medical advice, published by World Aid Network. Always consult a qualified clinician about your own health.