Training is at the very heart of everything we do. With your support and the help of our world-leading expert volunteers, we provide training to all types of healthcare workers – from doctors and nurses in regional hospitals to district leaders and teachers in remote areas.
What we are doing to tackle global blindness as a vision charity
As a vision charity, Orbis UK works with non-profit hospitals, national and local governments, and NGOs to provide eye care training and treatment. With your help, we can continue fighting blindness and ensuring everyone has access to quality eye care, no matter where they live.
Passing on Skills and Knowledge
Family in Ethiopia getting screened for their active trachoma and receiving antibiotics.
We carry out training and mentoring activities through our hospital-based training, on board our incredible Flying Eye Hospital, and via our online mentoring platform, Cybersight. Our long-term country programme work is possible thanks to the generosity of our remarkable volunteer ophthalmologists, anaesthetists, nurses and biomedical engineers who give up their free time every year to train eye teams in communities around the world.
What Does Orbis Do? A Comprehensive Approach
We offer a comprehensive approach to eye care using the best tools and resources available
We work with non-profit hospitals, national and local governments, and NGOs to improve and expand healthcare facilities – so that more people can get the eye care they need, especially those in rural and remote areas.
We support partners to set up community eye health facilities, such as Vision Centres, and eye care units in regional hospitals. We also support referral networks to help patients receive the most appropriate treatment in the best place for them.
We put local patients in direct contact with regional specialists via video conferencing platforms, and we support people without the means to access treatment by providing transport and ensuring cost is not a barrier.
Child patient getting screened at a Women Led Green Vision Centre in Bangladesh.
In Ethiopia, for example, we help implement the World Health Organisation's SAFE strategy alongside partners such as the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), international eye care NGOs and the Ministry of Health to help eliminate trachoma, a painful, contagious and blinding disease.
We establish long-term country programmes and build the capacity of health systems to improve access to quality eye care. We train all types of workers across all levels of the health system – not just ophthalmologists and nurses, but primary health workers and community volunteers. We also work with hospitals to improve leadership and governance in order to help improve the long-term quality of patient care.
Our comprehensive approach in action.
In 2023, Orbis delivered 11,782 training sessions for eye health workers. Training is integrated
across many of our projects, allowing us to ensure that sight-saving work can be delivered locally, long into the future. However, the impact reaches far beyond these numbers.
The restoration of sight is one of the most effective and cost-efficient ways to reverse the cycle of poverty for individuals and their families, according to the World Bank and World Health Organisation. Orbis is doing this through ensuring the provision of quality eye care.
Find out more about our vision charity work and how we are fighting blindness, along with some of the amazing things your support goes towards.
The Highlights
Flying Eye Hospital
The Orbis Flying Eye Hospital is unlike any plane you’ve seen before. A state-of-the-art teaching facility eye hospital complete with an operating room, classroom and recovery room - this amazing aircraft has been an example of the marriage between medicine and aviation since 1982.
Cybersight - Telemedicine
Cybersight is our award-winning telemedicine and ophthalmology training platform. Through Cybersight, our expert volunteers teach and support eye care teams around the world using the latest advancements in internet and mobile technologies.
Expert Volunteers
Our world renowned expert volunteers are the heartbeat of our training programmes. For more than 30 years, our goal has been to share their ophthalmology volunteer skills and knowledge to help prevent avoidable blindness around the world.
Advocacy
As a vision charity, we advocate for eye health to become a priority with governments and policymakers around the world. By raising awareness of the importance of quality eye care and influencing implementation, we aim to build a world where no one loses their sight simply because of where they were born.
People at the opening ceremony in Zambia, 2012
Technology and Innovation in Eye Care
With global blindness set to triple by 2050, we need to reverse the trend before it’s too late. The old way simply isn’t working. We need to keep pushing boundaries and lead from the front of eye treatment innovation now, if we’re going to help ensure a brighter tomorrow.
Blindness gender inequality for women and girls
Blindness is a gender issue: globally there are 112 million more women than men living with vision loss, including blindness.
