Cataract is clouding of the lens of the eye, impeding the passage of light.

Ummah Welfare Trust provides free cataract surgery to poor elderly persons in different countries. Treatment is administered in remote rural areas. Teams regularly survey remote areas identifying the need for surgery amongst impoverished elderly persons.

Following surveys, identified patients are invited to eye-camps or centres where cataract surgery can be rendered. In the free surgery provided, there are no stitches and patients are discharged, with free eye drops in hand, within of five hours of arriving for treatment.

Though most cases of cataract are related to the aging process, occasionally children can be born with the condition, or a cataract may develop after eye injuries, inflammation, and some other eye diseases.

Globally, cataract is the single largest cause of blindness. Cataract surgery has been shown to be one of the most cost-effective health-care interventions. Surgery and the insertion of an intraocular lens result in almost immediate visual rehabilitation.