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Forty people lose their sight every day in the UK. Going blind is often feared second only to a cancer diagnosis. Despite this only 2% of all medical research funding is directed at sight loss and eye disease. We need your help to correct this under-investment in eye research.

National Eye Research Centre funds research into the causes and treatments of eye disease, sight loss and blindness. We publish the results of that research in order to stimulate further research advances in ophthalmology. The charity was formed in 1986 and has invested over 拢17 million into eye research.聽

As a leading eye-disease research charity, we meet a national need for increased research into the structure and workings of the eye, into the causes of, and treatments for, eye diseases and the prevention of blindness. We are currently funding research into the leading causes of sight loss and blindness such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and uveitis.

Photo: What your world looks like when you have AMD

Research funded by the National Eye Research Centre improved the success rate of corneal transplants from 50% to over 90%. Now over 3,500 people have their sight restored in the UK through corneal transplants every year.

Photo: Researcher examining eye structures under the microscope

Two million people in the UK currently have a degree of sight loss that has a significant impact on their daily lives. However, that number is set to double by 2050 due to our ageing population and the increasing incidence of obesity, a key trigger of eye disease. Sight loss and blindness currently costs the UK economy over 拢22bn every year, yet much sight loss could be prevented with more research.

Photo: Speakers at a campaign launch in February 2015 at the House of Commons pressing for more investment in eye research.