About Us

A staggering 90% of all vision loss is treatable or preventable. That equates to 1 billion people on this planet living with vision loss from avoidable causes. Nine out of ten people with vision loss live in low- and middle-income countries, and 55% are women and girls.

To combat this, we build strong eye care systems that cover the full range of eye care services — from educating people about eye health and the importance of preventive care to identifying eye conditions in the community to providing treatment and follow-up services for those who need them.

We not only improve access to eye care in the communities that need it most, but we do it in a sustainable and strategic way that leaves a lasting legacy of vision

To make eye care systems strong and sustainable, Orbis works with Ministries of Health and partners with local medical facilities to ensure that:

• public health agendas and budgets prioritize eye care
• eye care is seamlessly incorporated into existing healthcare systems so that eye health contributes to patients’ overall health and wellbeing, and vice versa
• quality eye care services are available and accessible where patients need them—whether in rural health centers or urban hospitals
• eye care teams have the training and equipment they need to deliver high-quality sight-saving care.

Our values of Accountability, Commitment, Innovation, Integrity and Equity are the threads that connect our global team across geographies, languages, job functions and time zones.

With the help of our incredible donors, partners and supporters, we have been a pioneer in the prevention and treatment of blindness for nearly 40 years. Since 1982, we have conducted training programs in 92 countries and trained hundreds of thousands of doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists, biomedical engineers and other medical professionals.

We currently have over 60 long-term projects around the world in countries including India, Bangladesh, Nepal, China, Vietnam, Ethiopia, South Africa, Ghana, Zambia, Cameroon, Peru, Mongolia and Indonesia. Visit our Where We Work section for more information.

With the support of our partners we have trained hundreds of thousands of doctors, nurses, biomedical engineers and eye care workers over the past 32 years. As a result we have positively impacted the lives of millions of men, women and children by conducting over 3 million screenings and examinations in 2018 alone.

We work where the need for eye care is greatest and where we can do the most good, working closely with governments and health ministries.

We strive for excellence in everything we do — from our world leading volunteers to our state-of-the-art Flying Eye Hospital — and only the best training and practices will be passed on.