The Alliance to Fight Avoidable Blindness (AFAB)

AFAB

The Alliance to Fight Avoidable Blindness is a partnership program formed to address blindness that can be prevented or cured in IsDB member countries. The Alliance brings together Ministries of Health through National Programs for Control of Blindness (NPCB), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), training centres and donor institutions. the Alliance focuses its interventions on providing cataract treatment, refractive error, glaucoma, and diabetes retinopathy, as well as the development of national capacities both in such fields and in program management.

The First Generation of the Alliance that was launched by the bank (2008 - 2015) focused on reducing the prevalence of blindness due to cataract, while the Second Generation supported by ISFD (2019-2024) broadens its outreach to other preventable eye diseases, namely uncorrected refractive errors, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy. It also concentrates on developing the capacities of the National Programs for the Control of Blindness, including eye care personnel.

The Alliance was expanded in September 2023 by introducing the new initiative of Eyecare for Empowering Children in Africa.

AFAB 2

Program Objectives

The overall goal of the Second Generation of the Alliance to Fight Avoidable Blindness is to contribute to improving the quality of life of persons with visual disability and uplifting their socio-economic status in the IsDB member countries, by providing a comprehensive, accessible and sustainable eye care services in the selected member countries, while the general objective of the Eyecare for Empowering Children in Africa is to reduce the existing magnitude of URE in primary and secondary schools by 25% in the 13 AFAB beneficiary countries by the end of 2029.

ISFD Contribution 

The total cost of the implementation of the second generation of the program is estimated at US$30 million with ISFD contribution of US$5 million, while the cost of the implementation new Eyecare for Empowering Children in Africa program is estimated at US$ 25.5 million out of which ISFD contributes US$3.5 million as a grant. 

Details
Program name
AFAB
Sector
Health
Beneficiaries
Based on the success of the First Generation of the Alliance interventions, the IsDB, the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD) and our technical and financial partners launched the Second Generation of the Alliance, and recently approved the new initiative of Eyecare for Empowering Children in Africa covering 13 African member countries, namely: Burkina Faso, Chad, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Somalia, and Togo.
Launch Date
January 1, 2018