What we're doing to tackle Global Blindness | Orbis
With your help, we can ensure everyone has access to quality eye care, no matter where they live.
Passing on skills and knowledge
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.

Volunteer Dr. Daniel Neely shows how to screen a young patient using a Winnie the Pooh toy (Photo credit: Geoff Oliver Bugbee/Orbis)
Our specialist training is delivered in partnership with local hospitals, public health agencies and governments. It takes place on board our incredible Flying Eye Hospital, through our online mentoring platform, Cybersight, and through our long-term country programmes. It is made 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.
Our comprehensive approach

We offer a comprehensive approach to eye care using the best tools and resources available
We bring people together in the fight against avoidable blindness. We know we can't do it all on our own so we work with partners to evaluate the specific needs of each region, develop a tailored plan to restore sight and put in place a long-term eye health strategy.
We educate communities about eye health. With the help of key partners, we distribute vital antibiotics to treat and prevent serious eye conditions. We provide crucial eye health information via radio broadcasts, film screenings and educational materials.

Providing Zithromax antibiotics to help eliminate trachoma in Ethiopia (Photo credit: Geoff Oliver Bugbee)
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 2019, Orbis programs resulted in over 66,000 completed trainings for doctors, nurses and other health workers. 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 how we work and some of the amazing things your support goes towards.
The highlights
Country Programmes

An eye examination on a young patient in Peru
Flying Eye Hospital

Cybersight - Telemedicine

Expert Volunteers

Orbis volunteer doctor performing surgery
Partnerships and Collaboration

Smiling doctors and nurses at the Sajida Foundation in Bangladesh
Community Outreach

Advocacy

People at the opening ceremony in Zambia, 2012
Through the eyes of women and girls

Flying Eye Hospital

Technology and Innovation in Eye Care
Did you know there is a gender gap in blindness?
