Flying Eye Hospital lands in Ethiopia for World Sight Day

Thursday 11th October is World Sight Day and we'll be celebrating with our colleagues and partners in Ethiopia, asking them tell us why they care about eye care. We'll be sharing a host of inspiring videos and images - keep an eye out.

This is the fifth time the Flying Eye Hospital has visited Ethiopia in the 20 years we've been fighting blindness there. With thanks to our wonderful supporters, volunteers and staff we'll be conducting a three-week national ophthalmic training program - working with local partners on the ground to share skills and resources and help build a sustainable eye care legacy.

There is grave need for investment in eye care in Ethiopia. While we’ve had a host of successes over the last 20 years, the population has nearly doubled in that time, from 65 million in 1998 to 105 million today.

The World Health Organization estimate 1.6 million people are living with blindness and 3.5 million are living with uncorrected low vision. Even more alarming is the fact that 87% of blindness and 91% of low vision is completely avoidable.

We'll be partnering with the Federal Ministry of Health and the Ophthalmological Society of Ethiopia to strengthen the capacity of eye care teams delivering subspecialized eye care services and residency training.

Over the course of the three weeks we'll be training 335 eye care professionals - including doctors, nurses, biomedical engineers, anesthetists and allied health professional - screening and examining 250 patients and operating on 122 people.

This project would not be successful without the full support of our partners and sponsors. We offer our deepest gratitude to the Federal Ministry of Health, the Ophthalmological Society of Ethiopia, Department of Ophthalmology at Addis Ababa University at the Menelik II Referral Hospital, our global corporate partner, Alcon Foundation, as well as our project local partners and sponsors below.

And of course a further thank you to our volunteers, staff and supporters - without who none of this would be possible.