Standard Chartered nears $100-M fund target

MANILA, Philippines -  The Standard Chartered Bank said its Seeing is Believing program is just $25 million short of its target to raise $100 million by 2020, to bring affordable eye-care in areas of high need. Seeing is Believing is Standard Chartered’s global charitable initiative to tackle avoidable blindness run in partnership with the International Agency for Prevention of Blindness (IAPB).  As one of the biggest corporate contributors seeking to eliminate avoidable blindness, Seeing is Believing has reached 53 million people across Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. The global economic cost of blindness is estimated to be $200 billion per year. Across the world, 39 million people are blind and 246 million people suffer from visual impairment. With 90 percent of avoidable blindness occurring in low and middle-income countries, it is an issue with particular resonance in many markets where Standard Chartered operates. In the Philippines, Seeing is Believing has made great strides in tackling avoidable blindness.  In partnership with CBM and Cataract Foundation of the Philippines Inc, the bank, donated $1 million to the Philippines to support sight-restoring activities in the country over three years.  From the onset of program to June 2014, it has catered to 45,184 adult cataract operations, 39,944 children screened for error of refraction, 9,000 spectacles distributed to children and 1,371 health workers trained.