Eye Care Everywhere: In the Street

When 1.1 billion people live with vision loss, sometimes you need to get creative with your healthcare solutions. That's why Orbis has taken to the streets with eye care, bringing Mass Drug Administration and the Vision Van to even the most remote communities.

With some patients quarantining indoors during the pandemic, and others in hard-to-reach, remote villages, the Orbis team has gone into the streets to meet our patients where they live. Both our Ethiopian Mass Drug Administration, and the launch of the Vision Van, exemplify our efforts to give the care our patients deserve, no matter where they reside.

The Mass Drug Administration gave the antibiotic, Zithromax, to millions in Ethiopia.

Mass Drug Administration in Ethiopia

Millions of people in southern Ethiopia suffer from an infectious, blinding disease called trachoma — and the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the situation. To combat this, in December 2020, Orbis conducted a mass drug administration (MDA) of more than 7.5 million doses of trachoma-fighting antibiotics in 87 districts in southern Ethiopia in just one month.

During an MDA, health care teams screen and treat every person living in an area to eliminate the disease, and in this case prevent blindness. Thanks to the support of partners and donors, Orbis has virtually eradicated trachoma in 24 regions of Ethiopia

The coronavirus pandemic caused delays when distributing the antibiotics, but with updated COVID-19 precautions, and the invaluable donations of our supporters to supply personal protective equipment, we were still able to administer more than 7.5 million doses. Thank you to everyone who made that possible.

Vision Van

Urgent eye care couldn't wait for the pandemic to end. With schools shut down due to COVID-19 lockdowns, much of our work in screening children in schools was halted during 2020. To continue our sight-saving work, and reach patients in their homes in India, Orbis teamed up with the Akhand Jyoti Eye Hospital to create the Vision Van.

Equipped with state-of-the-art ophthalmic equipment and staffed with professionally-qualified optometrists, the Vision Van made its journey through rural and underserved areas in India, where eye care is scarce. The van is an innovative mobile screening and treatment facility, ready to offer eye exams, and give glasses to fix vision issues on-the-spot.

We conducted more than 985 screenings on children, with 25 referred to the hospital for further surgical treatment.