Orbis International

We’re excited to announce the official start of our AI-assisted diabetic retinopathy (DR) project in Vietnam, which aims to screen around 72,000 patients with diabetes over the next three years. 👀✨🔬 We’d like to say a huge thank you to NIDEK Global for donating six specialized cameras to support the project. DR screening requires specialized equipment known as a fundus camera that is able to take high quality pictures of the back of the eye. NIDEK’s generous donation of six fundus cameras, used in conjunction with Orbis’s bespoke AI tool, Cybersight AI, will help people living with diabetes access specialized screening at six health facilities in three provinces, providing crucial early diagnosis and treatment. The project will help tackle the growing threat of DR in Vietnam, where around 7 million people are estimated to have diabetes—a number expected to increase five-fold by 2030. Everyone with diabetes is at risk of developing the potentially blinding eye condition without early detection and treatment. Cybersight AI can detect DR in seconds and means images do not need to be sent off to expert graders, a process which can take days or even weeks, greatly reducing the prospect of follow-up care. Once again, a huge thank you to NIDEK for not only donating the cameras but also supporting vital in-person training and online continuing education to around 500 eye health professionals via our Cybersight platform.

After successfully having his sight restored, Komol from Bangladesh is now a dedicated eye care ambassador for his community!

Women Leaders in Eye Health together with the African Ophthalmology Council (AOC) will host Standing Strong, Sharing Space and Shaping Solutions on Saturday July 28 7:00-8:00am in Kigali. Featuring a panel of motivating speakers and meaningful discussions, eye care professionals can support each other, share experiences, and work towards finding solutions to shared challenges as women in eye health. The one-hour breakfast session will be moderated by our very own superstar Dr. Wanjiku Mathenge, Medical Advisor, Orbis International.  As the first female leader of the AOC, Dr. Mathenge is tasked with delivering on their ambitious goal of improving access to eye care in Sub Saharan Africa. Facing the challenges for women in the eye care sector will ultimately help improve the quality of eye care services for women and girls in communities all around the world. A big thank you to our supporters for backing our call for gender equity in eye health, and to our partners Seva Foundation and Women in Ophthalmology. Learn more about the event or sign up below:   https://lnkd.in/gMWmAdrV

#ThrowbackThursday We’d like to reintroduce you to Rose, an adorable little girl from Mongolia whose rare eye tumor was treated in 2022 thanks to our incredible supporters. When Rose’s parents noticed a swelling in her eye, they visited a local doctor who recommended seeing a specialist. As a nomadic family with livestock, it wouldn't be easy to take their toddler on the long journey, but with their concerns growing Rose’s family made the six-hour trek to the National Center for Maternal and Child Health, an Orbis partner hospital in the capital, Ulaanbaatar. There, Rose and her family met Dr. Battsetseg, a pediatric surgeon who trained with Orbis on a Flying Eye Hospital project in Mongolia in 2018. Dr. Battsetseg got specialist support from Dr. Ron Pelton via Cyberisght, Orbis’s telemedicine platform; together they restored Rose’s vision. Stay tuned for more heartwarming stories like this as the Flying Eye Hospital returns to Mongolia for another training project next month. 

Thanks to the Orbis community, 2023 was filled with sight-saving projects to help the world see clearly. From Ethiopia to Peru, Orbis supporters helped train more medical professionals so communities everywhere can get the eye care they need to thrive. In 2023 alone we completed: - 2.7 million eye screenings at community outreach events - 32,000 trainings by eye care professionals and community health workers - 88,000 glasses prescribed - 42,000 eye surgeries and laser treatments Click below to learn more about the work you helped us accomplish in 2023 in our Annual Report below: https://bit.ly/4f6AGTE

Update from our training project in Peru: For five days, local eye teams have been improving their surgical skills to better treat glaucoma, the second leading cause of blindness in the country. During the surgical training, nineteen glaucoma patients also underwent surgery and had their vision restored — that's a lot of healthy eyes! We want to thank our supporters for their generous donations, without which none of this would be possible. We also want to give a special thank you to our partner Alcon for providing equipment to save sight.

Next stop, Mongolia! The Flying Eye Hospital will be taking flight this August for a three-week training program in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. From August 4-22, eye care teams from around Mongolia will gather in the country’s capital to hone their skills to treat blinding conditions like cataracts and strabismus. Hands-on surgical training from expert Volunteer Faculty will equip these doctors with the skills they need to save sight in their communities. Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting program! https://lnkd.in/egbpYmKz

#ThrowbackThursday time! Since we’re only weeks away from our Flying Eye Hospital’s return to Mongolia, we wanted to share some wonderful memories from when our plane was last in the country. In 2018, our Volunteer Faculty and clinical staff teams worked shoulder to shoulder with eye care partners to improve the skills and expertise of local teams during a successful three-week training project—building brighter futures for Mongolian communities. Keep your eyes peeled for more exciting news to come soon...

Our teams recently attended IN SIGHT LIVE Mexico to help build connections with others in the eye global eye care community. Here are some highlights from the second day of the conference. International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) #2030InSight #globalhealth #eyecare #eyehealth #visioncare #ophthalmology

At Orbis, we know the best way to improve eye care is by sharing skills... And so do these Canadian ophthalmologists. They are practicing a different cataract technique that is no longer taught in Canada, specifically so they can support communities in other parts of the world and help improve eye care there. Facilitated by our wonderful Dr. Maria Jose Montero Romero Associate Director of Clinical Services for the Flying Eye Hospital, the training sessions were led and coordinated at the 2024 Canadian Ophthalmological Society Annual Conference and will enable these ophthalmologists to improve training in areas where access to cataract surgery is poor. Cataracts, which lead to blurred vision and eventual blindness, are a leading cause of blindness globally. Manual Small Incision Cataract Surgery (MSICS) is a viable alternative to phacoemulsification (modern cataract removal) and is an effective surgical procedure for patients in low-resource settings. A big thank you to the trainers and ophthalmologists for dedicating their time to improving skills worldwide! Photo credit: Canadian Ophthalmological Society I Société canadienne d'ophtalmologie