Training is at the very heart of everything we do. With your support and the help of our world-leading expert volunteers, we provide training to all types of healthcare workers - from doctors and nurses in regional hospitals to district leaders and teachers in remote areas.
What we do
With your help, we can ensure everyone has access to quality eye care, no matter where they live.
Passing on Skills and Knowledge
Volunteer Dr. Daniel Neely shows how to screen a young patient using a Winnie the Pooh toy (Photo credit: Geoff Oliver Bugbee/Orbis).
Our specialist training is delivered in partnership with local hospitals, public health agencies and governments. It takes place on board our incredible Flying Eye Hospital, through our online mentoring platform, Cybersight, and through our long-term country programs. It is made possible thanks to the generosity of our remarkable volunteer ophthalmologists, anesthesiologists, nurses and biomedical engineers who give up their free time every year to train eye teams in communities around the world.
Our Comprehensive Approach
We offer a comprehensive approach to eye care using the best tools and resources available.
We bring people together in the fight against avoidable blindness. We know we can't do it all on our own so we work with partners to evaluate the specific needs of each region, help develop a tailored plan to restore sight and put in place a long-term eye health strategy.
We educate communities about eye health, and with the help of key partners, distribute vital antibiotics to treat and prevent serious eye conditions. We provide crucial eye health information via radio broadcasts, film screenings and educational materials.
Providing Zithromax antibiotics to help eliminate trachoma in Ethiopia (Photo credit: Geoff Oliver Bugbee).
In Ethiopia for example, we help implement the World Health Organisation's SAFE strategy alongside partners such as the UK Department for International Development, international eye care NGOs and the Ministry of Health to help eliminate trachoma, a painful, contagious and blinding disease.
We establish long-term country programmes and build the capacity of health systems to improve access to quality eye care. We train all types of workers across all levels of the health system - not just ophthalmologists and nurses, but primary health workers and community volunteers. We also work with hospitals to improve leadership and governance - to help improve the long-term quality of patient care.
Our comprehensive approach in action.
Despite the additional barriers presented by a global pandemic, more than 29,000 trainings were completed by doctors, nurses and other eye care workers throughout 2020 alone.
The restoration of sight is one of the most effective and cost-efficient ways to reverse the cycle of poverty for individuals and their families, according to the World Bank and World Health Organization. Orbis is doing this through ensuring the provision of quality eye care.
Find out more about how we work and some of the amazing things your support goes towards.
The Highlights
Country Programmes
By working with partners across the health service to establish and strengthen existing care we help provide long-term, sustainable eye care to communities around the world. From rural areas to bustling cities, we aim to provide the tools and knowledge to help restore vision for generations to come.
Community Outreach
We want to make sure everyone has access to quality eye care, no matter where they live. This is why, as well as strengthening and equipping local hospitals, we work at a community level - training and educating people about eye health to ensure even the most remote areas receive the best possible treatment.
Cybersight
Cybersight is our award-winning telemedicine platform. Through Cybersight, our expert volunteers teach and support eye care teams around the world using the latest advancements in internet and mobile technologies.
Eye care everywhere: women and girls
Women are four times more likely to be affected by blinding trachoma compared to men. Since 2020, Orbis Ireland has provided 5,847 surgeries, among which 70% were for women and girls.
Flying Eye Hospital
The Orbis Flying Eye Hospital is unlike any plane you’ve seen before. A state-of-the-art teaching facility complete with operating room, classroom and recovery room - this amazing aircraft has been an example of the marriage between medicine and aviation since 1982.
Partnerships and collaboration
At Orbis we know the world needs to work together to create a better, more prosperous future for all. The power of one may be strong, but the power of many is far stronger.
Smiling doctors and nurses at the Sajida Foundation in Bangladesh