With women and girls making up two thirds of all blind people in the world, this year’s World Sight Day will address the link between gender and eye health and the importance of equal access to eye care for women and men.

CBM said as many as 80 per cent of cases of blindness were preventable or treatable and that women and girls often missed out on treatment because of gender-based discrimination in society or because they were unable to leave the family in order to seek treatment.

“Every five seconds someone goes needlessly blind, so we are encouraging people to get together with a couple of friends at 20:20 hours on 8 October and pray with CBM for 20 minutes,” said Bill McAllister, national director of CBM UK.

The 20 minutes reflects the Vision 2020 global initiative to eliminate avoidable blindness in the world, led by the World Health Organisation and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness.

The number one cause of blindness is cataracts, which can be treated with surgery that costs just £20.

CBM is currently involved in over 900 projects in 90 of the world’s poorest countries to support people with disabilities.