Where we work

Orbis has partnered with the Zambian Ministry of Health since 2010 to build capacity within the overburdened and under-resourced healthcare system. Orbis Zambia, a branch of Orbis International, was established in 2016 to help scale quality eye care across the county.

Orbis has been fighting avoidable blindness in Ethiopia for over two decades. The Addis Ababa office, registered in 1998, was our first program office and currently manages our largest portfolio of eye care programs. Orbis Ethiopia focuses on trachoma elimination, training, governance, and health system strengthening in urban and rural settings.

China is estimated to have the largest number of blind people in the world – around 8.2 million. Yet most eye care professionals, particularly surgically skilled ophthalmologists, are disproportionately located and practising in urban areas, while a majority of the blind live in rural areas.

The Flying Eye Hospital first touched down in Ghana in 1990, with long-term country programs established by 2014. 209,000 people, out of a population of 30.8 million, are living with blindness, with a further 330,000 living with severe vision loss. Orbis works alongside partners to improve access to eye care, especially for children.

Orbis’s work in Rwanda began in 2016 when we first partnered with the Rwanda International Institute of Ophthalmology (RIIO) to help strengthen the skills of local eye teams. Almost a decade later, our first-ever Flying Eye Hospital project on Rwandan soil will kick off in late July 2025.

Orbis South Africa works in partnership with the South African Department of Health to strengthen public eye health services and reduce avoidable blindness. Our work supports district‑led eye care models that are integrated into routine health services and embedded within existing government systems.

Orbis started its journey in Bangladesh in 1985 when the Flying Eye Hospital first touched down, with long-term programs starting in the year 2000. Since then, Orbis has worked with local partners to focus on eye disease prevention and sight restoration for women, children, and marginalized communities in remote, rural areas.

Orbis began saving sight in India in 1988 and set up our in-country office in Delhi in 2000. Orbis India's main focus areas are children's eye care, primary eye care, Human Resources for Eye Health, and enabling quality eye health. 270,000 children are living with blindness in India, with more than 50% of these cases being avoidable.

Orbis has worked in Nepal since the Flying Eye Hospital first visited Kathmandu in 1985. Nepal's diverse terrain has led to an unequal distribution of infrastructure, equipment, and human resources in eye health, which makes our work even more critical.

The Orbis Flying Eye Hospital first visited Mongolia in 1989 to help improve the skills of local eye teams. Since then, there have been further training projects on board the Flying Eye Hospital, in local hospitals, and online via our telemedicine platform, Cybersight.

Orbis began working in Vietnam in 1996, providing ophthalmic training in local hospitals in collaboration with the Vietnam National Institute of Ophthalmology. In 2003, an Orbis office was set up in Hanoi following the launch of several long-term projects and the establishment of the country's first eye bank.

Our Flying Eye Hospital first touched down in Lima in 1982, and it signaled the beginning of a long relationship of ophthalmic training and skills-sharing. Some 1.1 million Peruvians are living with blindness or visual impairment out of a population of only 33 million.

Orbis Canada became an affiliate member of Orbis International in 1984, joining the fight against avoidable blindness in developing nations by creating awareness and raising funds throughout Canada.