Training is at the very heart of everything we do. With your support and the help of our world-leading Volunteer Faculty, 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're Doing To Tackle Global Blindness
With your help, we can ensure everyone has access to quality eye care, no matter where they live.
Passing on Skills and Knowledge
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 programs. It is made possible thanks to the generosity of our remarkable volunteer ophthalmologists, anesthesiologists, 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 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, help develop a tailored plan to restore sight and put in place a long-term eye health strategy.
We educate communities about eye health, and with the help of key partners, 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 Organization's SAFE strategy alongside partners such as the UK Department for International Development, the Fred Hollows Foundation, Sightsavers and the Ministry of Health to help eliminate trachoma, a painful, contagious and blinding disease.
Help us change the way the world sees
Donate NowWe establish permanent presences or long-term country programs, 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 leadership and governance – to help improve the long term quality of patient care.
Despite the additional barriers presented by a global pandemic, more than 30,000 trainings were completed by doctors, nurses, and other eye care workers throughout 2022 alone.
Meet Rose, an incredible patient whose sight was saved thanks to supporters like you!
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 Organization. Orbis is doing this through ensuring the provision of quality eye care.
Flying Eye Hospital
The Orbis Flying Eye Hospital is unlike any plane you’ve seen before! A state-of-the-art teaching facility complete with operating room, classroom and recovery room - this amazing aircraft has been an example of the marriage between medicine and aviation since 1982.
Country Programs
By working with partners across the health service to establish and strengthen existing care we help provide long-term, sustainable eye care to communities around the world. From rural areas to bustling cities, we aim to provide the tools and knowledge to help restore vision for generations to come.
Cybersight - Telemedicine
Cybersight is our award-winning telemedicine platform. Through Cybersight, our expert volunteers teach and support eye care teams around the world using the latest advancements in internet and mobile technologies.
Partnerships and collaboration
At Orbis we know the only path to a better tomorrow is by working together to create a sustainable, prosperous future for all. The power of one may be strong, but the power of many is far stronger.
Smiling doctors and nurses at the Sajida Foundation in Bangladesh
Volunteer Faculty
Our world-renowned Volunteer Faculty are the heartbeat of our training programs, both on the Flying Eye Hospital and in partner hospitals around the world. For 40 years the keystone of our work has been to teach and train eye teams to fight blindness on their own - we couldn't do it without their hard work and dedication.
Community Outreach
We want to make sure everyone has access to quality eye care, no matter where they live. This is why, as well as strengthening and equipping local hospitals, we work at a community level - training and educating people about eye health to ensure even the most remote areas receive the best possible treatment.
Technology and Innovation In Eye Care
With global blindness set to reach 60 million 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 health innovation now, if we’re going to help ensure a brighter tomorrow.
Blindness Gender Inequality - Women & Girls
Blindness is a gender issue: globally there are 112 million more women than men living with vision loss, including blindness. Below, we explore the reasons behind this injustice and profile some of the women who are doing something about it. After all, a brighter future for women is a brighter future for the planet.
