John Wilson (blind activist)

For other people named John Wilson, see John Wilson (disambiguation).

Sir John Foster Wilson CBE (20 January 1919, Nottingham – 25 November 1999, Brighton) was a public health advocate, best known for working to prevent blindness in developing countries in Africa and South and South East Asia.

Blind himself, after an accident at school in Scarborough, Wilson founded several organisations such as the Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind (now known as Sightsavers International), Disability Awareness in Action and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness. At his instigation, the World Health Organization established the first International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, for which he served as president from 1974 until his retirement in 1982.

Published works

• Ghana's Handicapped Citizens (1961)
• Traveling Blind (1963)
• World Blindness and Its Prevention (1980)

Awards and honours

• Helen Keller International Award (1970)
• World Humanity Award (1978)
• Royal Society of Medicine's Richard T. Hewitt Award (1991)
• Albert Schweitzer International Prize (1993).
• OBE (1955)
• CBE (1965)
• Knighthood (1975)
• Albert Lasker Public Service Award (1979)

Other

A school was established in his honour in Bangladesh named the "Sir John Wilson School".

External links

• Sightsavers website
• The Independent: Obituary