Help build a world where everyone can access the eye care they need to thrive in 2024

As we kick off 2024, we are so proud to continue our work to increase equitable access to eye health services and improve the quality of life of the communities we work with.

Orbis has been improving access to eye care for more than 40 years. In the early days, we had a sole focus on ophthalmic training. Sharing skills and knowledge in under-resourced areas remains one of the best ways to improve the quality eye care available. Over the years, as training has remained a core part of our programs, our work has also expanded to encompass so much more.

Our long-term country programs aim to put eye care within reach for all. We assess the needs of the local population and work with ministries of health and local hospitals to identify gaps. Programs such as our trachoma-fighting initiatives in Ethiopia, where we recently delivered our 100-millionth dose of sight-saving antibiotics, to our REACH (Refractive Error Among CHildren) project in India, where we work with local schools to screen for vision problems and donate glasses, are examples of how to radically scale interventions that save and restore vision at low cost.

We develop and scale access to innovative technology that is revolutionizing training for eye care professionals and treatment for patients. For too long, the most cutting-edge tools have only been accessible in high-income settings, though their greatest impact can be made in the most underserved places. For example, we’ve spent two decades developing our award-winning telemedicine platform, Cybersight, that not only hosts a suite of training tools (webinars, online courses, live surgical demonstrations) but also facilitates one-to-one consultations. We’re also scaling access to AI-led eye screening and VR training tools.

We couldn’t improve access to eye care without a global network of donors, supporters, corporate sponsors, volunteers, local eye partners, ministries of health, and our team of 400 world-renowned medical volunteers, known as our Volunteer Faculty.

By cultivating long-standing relationships in the areas where we offer programs, we can not only build individual centers of excellence but also influence national policies to prioritize eye care. We rely on the generosity of people like you who want to help build a better world, and we forge strong partnerships with local eye teams to ensure your support makes the biggest impact.

And of course, improving the skills of eye teams around the world is still right at the heart of what we do. When eye care teams get the training they need, patients get the care they deserve, but the lack of an adequately trained workforce remains one of the greatest challenges in global ophthalmology.

We train eye care teams – from health workers in rural clinics to eye surgeons in urban centers – so they can save and restore vision in their communities. Just as partnerships ensure we can carry out our work with the greatest impact, it’s the full eye care team coming together that ensures the best impact for patients. That’s why the eye care professionals we train range from surgeons, nurses, and anesthesiologists to biomedical engineers, community health workers, and more – in other words the full spectrum of eye care workers.

2024 promises to be an exciting year for the Orbis community. With your support, our teams in Ethiopia plan to deliver millions of doses of sight-saving anti-biotics to help reach our goal of trachoma elimination. In India, our teams will expand and build upon our school vision programs, improving educational outcomes for hundreds of thousands of children.

Our teams will produce more peer-reviewed research and evidence-based findings to influence partners and ensure our approach has the biggest impact possible. Our Cybersight team will strive to implement cutting-edge technology across all areas of our work allowing us to reach more people than ever before. The Flying Eye Hospital will be travelling to Mongolia and Bangladesh to provide critical training to local eye teams.

But we can’t do any of this without your support. In 2024, will you help us get closer to our shared vision of a world where everyone can access the eye care they need to thrive?