Sightsavers

What Sightsavers does

Sightsavers is a UK-registered international development charity (legally the Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind) founded in 1950, headquartered in Haywards Heath, United Kingdom, with regional offices in Ireland, the United States, Italy, Norway, Sweden, and India. The organization operates in more than 30 countries across Africa and Asia, delivering programs in three core verticals: protecting sight (cataract surgery, refractive error correction, glaucoma screening, trachoma treatment, river blindness treatment), fighting neglected tropical diseases (mass drug administration of Praziquantel for schistosomiasis, ivermectin for onchocerciasis, albendazole for lymphatic filariasis, and treatments for intestinal worms), and promoting disability inclusion (education, employment, health access, citizenship rights, and women's empowerment).

The organization's core technology is a community health delivery platform built around a network of over 6,000 trained Community Drug Distributors who administer treatments door-to-door in remote communities, supported by partnerships with national health ministries that integrate NTD treatment into government health systems. A notable operational component is the Community Drug Distributor Passport, a document system supporting local volunteers across countries. Programs align with WHO treatment guidelines and reach populations at scale: for example, campaigns in 2026 targeted over 1 million children in Kaduna State (Nigeria) and 6.7 million people across 86 districts in Ghana.

Sightsavers is funded entirely through donations rather than product or service sales, with revenue streams spanning individual giving (170,000+ email subscribers, major donors, legacies, fundraising events), corporate partnerships (including Serengeti Breweries Limited in Tanzania), and institutional funding from governments, trusts, foundations, and international organizations (including WHO and the Reaching the Last Mile Fund). The organization claims 92% of donations go to direct charitable work with 8% supporting awareness and fundraising. Its go-to-market is community-led: the organization identifies disease burden in target geographies, secures institutional funding, partners with ministries of health, and trains local volunteers who deliver treatments at the household level.

Name

Sightsavers

Legal name

Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind

Website

https://sightsavers.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1950

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Sightsavers is a UK-registered international charity founded in 1950 that operates in 30+ countries across Africa and Asia to prevent avoidable blindness, treat neglected tropical diseases through mass drug administration, and promote disability inclusion, funded by individual donations, corporate partnerships, and institutional grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Health and Disability Nonprofit Services

NAICS

Other Similar Organizations (except Business, Professional, Labor, and Political Organizations) (813990), Individual and Family Services (6241)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Comprehensive Eye Exams & Vision Care (HLAKAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Cornea, External Disease & Refractive Surgery (LASIK/PRK) (HLAKAKAF)

Keywords

• Eye health services
• Neglected tropical diseases
• Disability inclusion
• Mass drug administration
• Blindness prevention

Headquarters

HQ city

Chippenham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Charitable donations from individuals through one-time gifts, regular giving, marathon fundraising, and major donor programs. The organization has over 170,000 email subscribers and supporters.
2. Corporate Partnerships: Partnerships with corporations for social impact programs, including Serengeti Breweries Limited's support for farmers with disabilities in Tanzania.
3. Institutional Funding: Support from governments, trusts, foundations, and international organizations including WHO for NTD treatment campaigns.
4. Legacies and Bequests: Gifts in wills and legacy donations from supporters.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Sightsavers is a UK-registered international charity that prevents avoidable blindness, treats and eliminates neglected tropical diseases, and supports disability inclusion in more than 30 countries across Africa and Asia. It delivers eye examinations, cataract surgery, refractive error correction with glasses, mass drug administration for NTDs (schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, intestinal worms, trachoma), and programs covering education, employment, health access, citizenship, and women's empowerment for people with disabilities. Programs are funded by donations and delivered through partnerships with government health ministries and a trained volunteer community drug distributor network.

Product overview

Sightsavers is a charity organization operating across 30+ countries in Africa and Asia that provides a portfolio of health and development services. The core offerings include eye health services (examinations, surgeries, glasses), disease treatment programs for neglected tropical diseases (schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, river blindness, trachoma, intestinal worms), and disability inclusion services (education, employment, health, citizenship, women's programs). These programs are delivered through partnerships with governments, training of local health workers, and community-based approaches involving volunteer drug distributors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Eye Health Services Comprehensive eye healthcare services including eye examinations, eye operations, cataract surgery, refractive error correction with glasses provision, glaucoma screening, and trachoma and river blindness treatment, delivered to communities in low- and middle-income countries through partnerships with government health ministries.
• Disease Treatment Programs Treatment and prevention programs for neglected tropical diseases including schistosomiasis (snail fever), lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis (river blindness), intestinal worms, and trachoma, delivered through community drug distributors and government-led mass drug administration campaigns.
• Disability and Inclusion Services Programs supporting people with disabilities across education, employment, health access, citizenship rights, and women's and girls' empowerment, delivered in more than 30 countries in Africa and Asia.
• Campaigning and Advocacy Policy influence and campaigning work for disability rights and inclusion to ensure equal participation in society worldwide, including support for the rights of people with disabilities to be upheld.

Quantifiable outcome

• 92% of donations go directly to vital charity work

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Kaduna State Ministry of HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 June 2026Sightsavers provides support for mass schistosomiasis treatment campaign targeting over 1 million children across all 23 local government areas, following WHO guidelines with deployment of over 6,000 Community Drug Distributors.
• Ghana Health ServicecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 June 2026Sightsavers supports Integrated Mass Drug Administration campaign in 86 districts across 15 regions targeting 6.7 million people for onchocerciasis, 266,000 for lymphatic filariasis, and 1 million for schistosomiasis, valued at approximately GH¢40 million.
• Medicines Development for Global HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 June 2026Partner in Ghana's Integrated Mass Drug Administration campaign supporting neglected tropical disease treatment programs.
• World Health Organisation (WHO)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 June 2026WHO guidelines framework for NTD treatment campaigns including schistosomiasis, onchocerciasis, and lymphatic filariasis treatment protocols.
• Serengeti Breweries Limited (SBL)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 May 2026SBL partners with Sightsavers supporting farmers with disabilities through the Kilimo Viwanda initiative that has provided scholarships to more than 300 students. This partnership aligns with Tanzania's Vision 2050 and socio-economic development goals.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• BRAC: Large international development organization operating health, education, and microfinance programs across multiple low-income countries. Comparable in scale and community-based delivery, with overlapping health-worker training work though a much broader mandate than Sightsavers.
• Carter Center: US-based nonprofit running disease eradication programs including river blindness and trachoma in Africa — overlapping NTD portfolio with Sightsavers but broader in scope (including malaria and mental health).

Direct peers

• Helen Keller International: Global health organization addressing preventable blindness (including trachoma and onchocerciasis) and malnutrition in developing countries. Comparable to Sightsavers in eye health focus, NTD treatment programs, and geographic footprint.
• Orbis International: Global eye health nonprofit operating the Flying Eye Hospital and country programs to prevent blindness in low- and middle-income countries. Closely comparable to Sightsavers in eye-care focus, geographic reach, and partnership-driven delivery model.
• Cure Blindness Project: Formerly the Himalayan Cataract Project; delivers sight-restoring surgery and trains local eye care teams in low-resource countries. Comparable to Sightsavers' surgical and training work in cataract and refractive error correction.
• Light for the World: International disability and eye health NGO working on inclusive eye care, rehabilitation, and disability rights across Africa and Asia. Strong overlap with Sightsavers' combined eye-health-plus-disability-inclusion model.
• Operation Eyesight Universal: International development organization focused on preventing blindness and restoring sight, with active programs in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Direct comparable in mission, target populations, and community health worker deployment model.
• CBM (Christoffel-Blindenmission): Christian international development organization focused on disability inclusion and prevention of blindness in the world's poorest communities. Highly comparable to Sightsavers' combined eye-health-plus-disability-inclusion model.
• The Fred Hollows Foundation: International eye health nonprofit focused on cataract surgery, trachoma elimination, and training local eye health workers in developing countries. Directly comparable to Sightsavers in mission, target geographies (Africa and Asia), and community-based delivery model.

Broad incumbents

• PATH: Global health nonprofit advancing health equity through innovation, vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, and devices across multiple disease areas. Broader mandate than Sightsavers but overlapping in NTD program delivery and government health-system partnerships in Africa and Asia.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Sightsavers
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@sightsavers
• Facebookfacebook.com/sightsaversUK
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sightsavers
• Instagraminstagram.com/sightsavers
• TikToktiktok.com/@sightsavers

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sightsavers