Imagine losing your sight in one of the poorest regions in the world. Where would you turn for help? With few quality eye doctors, hospitals or clinics, your chances of getting the right kind of care are small. As your sight gets worse, your chances of getting an education or earning a steady income evaporate and you risk becoming blind for life.
This is the reality facing millions of people around the world today. Globally, there are 338 million people who are blind or are living with moderate-to-severe visual impairment. Out of these, a huge 77% is completely preventable or treatable.
With your help and the support of our amazing volunteers, we can give people their sight back today. At the same time we can build a lasting legacy of quality eye care that will ensure no one goes needlessly blind tomorrow.
Imagine the world around you in darkness.
Orbis, along with our dedicated volunteers and partners, has played a significant role in efforts to decrease worldwide visual impairment. But, with 2050, there is still a long way to go in the fight to end avoidable blindness altogether.
Eliminating avoidable blindness is one of the most cost effective ways of fighting poverty. For every €1 invested in blindness prevention, more than €4 is returned in economic terms.
But of course, people are not just statistics. At Orbis, we believe everyone deserves the same opportunity to see the sun rise in the morning, regardless of where they are born.
In most cases, what is needed to help someone see is relatively straightforward - providing glasses, removing a cataract, antibiotics or raising awareness of good eye care can be enough to prevent a lifetime of blindness.
The challenge is building lasting structures that can deliver the type of care needed for generations to come. At Orbis, we know the only way to make a real difference is to help build strong health systems that will go the distance and ensure people receive good, quality eye care when they need it.
Our Vision for Eye Health for All
More than three decades ago, our fight against avoidable blindness began with the launch of our first Flying Eye Hospital. Today, our global team of Volunteer Faculty continues to fly around the world to provide much needed medical training and education to eye care teams. Our partnerships with governments, health ministries, NGOs and local hospitals will ensure that we continue to pull together to help fight blindness around the world.
Take a look below to find out more about how we do it.
