Flying Eye Hospital in Bangladesh

Bangladesh with a population nearly 100 million larger than the UK’s, has fewer than half the number of eye doctors, highlighting the urgent need for specialised eye care across the country. The Flying Eye Hospital touched down in Chattogram, launching a two-week mission to save sight, one life changing operation at a time.

Once the Flying Eye Hospital transformed into a fully functional eye care hospital, the team quickly got to work. Our volunteer eye care experts and local eye care professionals came together to assess patients by selecting those who need sight saving surgery and evaluate the local training needs. Thanks to Cybersight, our telemedicine platform – this technology provides remote medical care – allowed local teams to share case details well ahead of time, ensuring that everything ran smoothly.

Just like how pilots use flight simulators, trainees use cutting-edge virtual reality, along with prosthetics and lifelike mannequins, to perfect their surgical skills. This method reduces complications, shortens surgical times, and ensures better patient outcomes. The results are clear: by practicing on realistic models, these surgeons will gain the skills and confidence needed to perform life-changing surgeries with precision. The impact of this training will extend long after the Flying Eye Hospital leaves Bangladesh, where we are building a more sustainable future for eye care.

By training local eye care professionals, we ensure that every patient - today and in the future - receives the best care possible. The goal is clear: better-trained teams equals better care for millions of people. Through projects like these, your donation to eye charities like Orbis makes an immediate impact - empowering professionals to treat thousands of patients, far beyond the reach of our Flying Eye Hospital.

With your support, we can continue to transform lives in Bangladesh and beyond. Every donation empowers local professionals to deliver sight-restoring surgeries and lasting care. Join us today in making an immediate impact.

This is just the beginning. In the coming days, the Flying Eye Hospital will perform critical sight-saving surgery, giving people a chance to live with health vision.

But we can’t do it without you. Your donation today to an eye charity like ours will help us continue this vital work, transforming the lives through the power of sight. Act now – every gift makes an immediate impact.

Keep an eye on this page for more updates to come on the Flying Eye Hospital in Bangladesh.

In Bangladesh, nearly 27 million people face a daily struggle with untreated vision loss. 90% of vision loss around the world can be prevented – yet the challenge people in countries like Bangladesh so often face is a lack of access to quality eye care.

That’s why the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital is heading to Bangladesh. This mission will bring life-changing eye care to those in urgent need of treatment and share these skills with Bangladeshi eye care nurses and doctors to treat their communities for years to come.

The Flying Eye Hospital is truly unique. This specially designed aircraft brings state-of-the-art medical facilities directly to communities in need. Inside, you’ll find:

- An operating room where complex eye surgeries are performed.
- A classroom for training the next generation of eye care professionals.
- A recovery room where patients begin their healing journey.

For two weeks, the Flying Eye Hospital will be stationed in Chattogram (formerly Chittagong), Bangladesh, creating an incredible opportunity for local eye health doctors to train alongside Orbis’s world-class medical volunteers. Among these experts are three exceptional volunteers from the UK, who are dedicating their free time and expertise to mentor eye care workers in Bangladesh. Together, they’re helping boost skills and transform eye care for communities across the country.

This isn’t just about what’s happening on the Flying Eye Hospital, it’s about the real impact on people’s lives, and you are helping make it happen. Local doctors will receive hands-on training, surgical simulation, and take part in workshops that will enable them to perform eye-saving surgeries to the highest standard. And it’s not just about today - this training will empower doctors for years, ensuring that people across Bangladesh have access to the quality eye care they deserve.

Thanks to your continued support, we’re able to bring the Flying Eye Hospital to places like Bangladesh. Your generosity makes it possible for doctors to train, for patients to receive life-changing care, and for communities to thrive with restored sight.

Generously backed by Title Sponsors FedEx and the Alcon Foundation, together with our amazing supporters, this project aims to strengthen crucial skills and knowledge in cataracts, oculoplastics, surgical retina, paediatric glaucoma, and cornea.

Throughout the project, we’ll be collaborating with Ophthalmological Society of Bangladesh, Bangladesh College of Physicians & Surgeons, National Eye Care, and Chittagong Eye Infirmary and Training Complex. We’d like to extend a big thank you to all our dedicated partners for their tireless work improving access to eye care in Bangladesh.