raise funds which will provide the medical treatment, education and facilities needed to eliminate unnecessary blindness in the world.

President of the Hamilton Lions Club, Mr. Dudley Cottingham, recently returned from an orientation meeting in New York where he assumed his role as a "district coordinator'' for Campaign SightFirst.

The Lioness and Leo Clubs are also involved in the project, which will fund new hospitals, training centres and sight preservation programmes.

Lions International launched Campaign SightFirst in 1991, aiming to raise $200 million by July, 1994.

The community service organisation has long been active in the cause of sight preservation and aid to the blind. Local clubs have assisted many Bermudians with sight-related problems who cannot afford the care they need.

Mr. Cottingham is one of 703 district coordinators who will be spearheading the massive fundraising effort. Working with him as a "group coordinator'' for Bermuda will be Lions zone chairman, Mr. David Cardell. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates there are at least 40 million blind people in the world today and warns that the number could double within the next 25 years.

Approximately 80 percent of those who go blind lose their sight to preventible or reversible causes, such as cataracts, vitamin A deficiency, river blindness, trachoma, glaucoma and complications of diabetes.

Lion Clubs from all corners of the Earth have been challenged to raise a minimum of $1,500 during 1993-94 for the campaign.

"It's amazing what can be accomplished with as little as $1,500,'' Mr.

Cottingham said. "For example, $1,500 can restore sight to as many as 200 people in India through low-cost cataract operations, or prevent as many as 3,750 children from losing their sight because of vitamin A deficiency.'' So far, Bermuda clubs have raised approximately $30,000. They are hoping to hand over $75,000 -- or more -- to Campaign SightFirst by next July.