World Health Organization thanks cbm for its outstanding work

cbm President Dr. Allen Foster visits the WHO for World Sight Day

view large Image Group photo of Director-General WHO, Deputy Diretor-General, cbm President Allen Foster, cbm Vice President Pierre-Bernard Le Bas.
from Left to right = Dr Anarfi Asamoa-Baah Deputy Director-General WHO, Dr Margaret CHAN, Director-General WHO, Dr Allen FOSTER, President cbm, Pierre-Bernard Le Bas, Vice-President Fundraising, cbm © CBM
cbm President Professor Allen Foster met with the Director-General Dr Margaret Chan, for the World Health Organization's global initiative to eliminate avoidable blindness "Vision 2020: The Right to Sight” on the eve of World Sight Day 2007 at the WHO's headquarters in Geneva.

Dr. Chan thanked cbm for its longstanding 20 year partnership and support, both financially and with technical personnel, for the prevention of blindness, deafness and for other disability-related programmes in the developing World.

World Sight Day 2007 was celebrated on Thursday 11th October to focus global attention on blindness and vision impairment for children.

VISION for children - World Sight Day 2007 focuses on Blindness and Childhood

"Early intervention is key to ensuring that children with eye problems
have the best possible outcomes in the developing countries,” says Prof. Foster. “Almost 50 percent of the world’s 1.4 million children living without sight are needlessly blind, from avoidable causes. This is a major public health priority that needs to be addressed.”

Every minute, a child goes blind - in the developing world, a child has a
60% chance of dying within one year of going blind. Over 1 million children in
the developing world under the age of 15 are now blind.

Professional experience and expertise for persons with visual impairments and other disabilities

cbm is a founding member of VISION 2020: the Right to Sight, a global initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB). We are working together to eliminate avoidable blindness worldwide by the year 2020, in order to give everyone in the world the Right to Sight.

cbm currently supports 1,011 disability-focused projects in 112 countries Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe, and has performed 8 million cataract surgeries worldwide.

Cbm is an expert at helping persons with disabilities throughout the developing world.


Read more:
Vision 2020 - The Right to Sight
Vision 2020 website

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CBM active in post-emergency phase on the ground in Haiti

Washline had a femur fracture treated with an internal fixator and still needs crutches to walk. Port-au-Prince after the earthquake which hit Haiti on 12 January 2010.

CBM has raised more than two million EUR for Haiti's Emergency response and reconstruction programmes. The situation in the Haitian capital remains tough for persons with disabilities. Photo: CBM

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CBM supports Partner in Concepción, Chile

A collapsed building in Talca, approximately 300 km (186 miles) south of Santiago, Chile. A magnitude-8.8 earthquake struck the Latin American country in the early hours of February 27, 2010. Picture copyright: Reuters/Victor Ruiz Caballero, courtesy www.alertnet.org

Picture copyright: Reuters/Victor Ruiz Caballero, courtesy www.alertnet.org
Following the 8.8-magnitude earthquake with epicentre close to the Chilean city of Concepción and aftershocks, CBM will support its Partner in the region. CBM has one Partner Project in need of reconstruction, located in Concepción, the country's second largest city.

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Projects worldwide

Projects worldwide