Thanks to our supporters, 2023 was a year to remember for Orbis. Find out more about the people Orbis will be supporting in 2024 and how you can help us to save sight and change lives.
Amongst some big milestones, we delivered our 100 millionth dose of trachoma-fighting antibiotics across Ethiopia, and the Flying Eye Hospital provided vital care in Vietnam and Zambia.
However, there is still much to do to fulfil our vision of creating a world where everyone can access the eye care that they need to thrive.
A key part of Orbis’s sight saving work involves training eye care teams to restore vision in their communities.
This year we will be working with our partner Sylhet Adhunik Eye Hospital in Sylhet, Bangladesh to train volunteers to screen around 30,000 workers and their families across 12 tea estates to identify eye conditions.
Tea picking requires close concentrations for hours at a time, so good vision is essential.
However, the majority of workers in Sylhet district have no access to eye care services. This means they face a range of visual impairments that could otherwise be easily treated.
Orbis volunteers will screen workers for a range of eye conditions. People found to have conditions such as cataracts and refractive error will be provided with glasses, medicine and surgery as required to improve their eyesight.
A woman having an eye test at a women-led green vision centre in Bangladesh.
This year Orbis’s successful women-led green vision centres will be expanding from Bangladesh’s Chandpur district to Rangpur, northern Bangladesh.
With support like yours, we are aiming to set up five more women-led green vision centres over the next two years in remote, hard-to-reach areas.
Powered by solar energy, these pioneering vision centres provide primary eye care for the whole community, with a particular focus on reaching women and girls.
Led by female eye health professionals, the centres aim to break down the barriers which prevent women from accessing eye care.
Each centre has a child-friendly space and a private breastfeeding area, while also ensuring that women can be examined by a woman. This is particularly important for women who may be unable to, for cultural or religious reasons, visit a centre where the examination will be carried out by a man.
Our women-led green vision centres are a fantastic example of how our supporters are helping us to deliver our mission, where we aim to build strong and sustainable eye care systems that put treatment and prevention within reach for all.
Tamanna trying on a pair of glasses at a green vision centre in Satara, India.
To fulfil our mission, a lot of Orbis’s work involves putting eye care in easy to access services in local communities. This can be seen in our work in Odisha, India.
Last year Orbis set up three solar powered green vision centres, and thanks to your support, we will establish another two in 2024.
The five centres will provide affordable, sustainable, quality eye care for 500,000 people in the local community, with a particular focus on eye care for children.
Each vision centre will also carry out outreach work at schools, early childhood centres, and door-to-door, to screen as many children as possible and make sure that those with eye conditions get the treatment that they need.
Orbis's work ties in with the Sustainable Development Goals, which include the target of achieving universal health coverage (UHC).
By working with governments, partners and supporters in the fight against avoidable blindness, Orbis is contributing to the sustainable development agenda to transform our world.
