Lions Eye Institute | Welcome

Today, patients that are having treatment for an eye condition are benefiting from many years of research by the worldwide scientific community. Great advances such as the increase in glaucoma surgery success with anti-scaring medicines may come from simple and inexpensive changes developed in the clinic or the laboratory, and validated by clinical research. In contrast, progress may occur in continuous small improvements; patients having a cataract operation 30 years ago could have expected a risky and large operation followed by immobilisation of the head in sandbags for weeks and then the need to wear very thick glasses. Nowadays, a cataract operation usually takes less than twenty minutes, is generally done under local anesthetic with rapid visual rehabilitation, sometimes with no need for glasses, and the chance of surgical success is generally excellent. Research has made these advances possible and benefited thousands of communities worldwide. Through the Lions Eye Institute project, both Lions and Capital Vision Research Trust aim to provide multiple community benefits. New Zealand investigations and treatments would be made available to the public and community awareness of eye disease would increase, promoting better eye health and minimising avoidable blindness. The Lions Eye Institute in New Zealand is being modeled on already existing and highly successful models including the Lions Eye Institute in Perth, Western Australia (LEI). With the help of Lions, LEI was established in 1983 and now provides an excellent community service aimed at early detection and prevention of eye disease. LEI has a very high quality teaching unit with world leading facilities and now employs more than 100 medical researchers, scientists, biomedical engineers and doctors from more than 25 countries.