Two new financing mechanisms aim to inject private capital and creativity into reducing preventable blindness in developing countries.

We are going to have to think very creatively if we are going to achieve what we think are achievable goals … including a need to think differently about money.

Worldwide, about 253 million people are visually impaired, including 36 million who are blind, according to the World Health Organization. Some 80 percent of global blindness is preventable, including from cataracts, one of the leading causes.

Two new mechanisms, one launched last week, and the other a few months ago, are aiming to test whether development impact bonds and a private investor funded holding company can help bring an injection of capital and new partners to address the dearth of eye care in many places around the world.

Read the full article by Adva Saldinger at Devex International Development