Asia
Orbis actively works throughout Asia to create long-term, sustainable solutions in eye care and strengthen the eye health systems within Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal and Vietnam.
Bangladesh
With only 1,000 ophthalmologists, Bangladesh faces daunting challenges in delivering quality eye care to its population of 160 million people. Across the country, 750,000 adults and 48,000 children are blind, and approximately 2.5 million people are at risk for developing diabetic retinopathy (DR), a leading cause of blindness.
Smiling doctors and nurses at the Sajida Foundation in Bangladesh
China
8.7 million people are living with blindness in China, 4.7 million with severe vision loss, and 46 million with moderate vision loss according to a 2019 survey.
Patients and family sit in the waiting room at Shandong Hospital, China
India
India is home to more than 20 percent of the world's blind population and the largest number of blind children in any one country. The divide between the rich and poor continues to increase, leaving a significant portion of the population without access to basic healthcare services — most of whom live either in rural India or in urban slums.
Nepal
Nepal’s diverse terrain – ranging from hot & humid in the south to the snow clad Himalayas in the north – has exacerbated the unequal distribution of infrastructure, equipment & human resources in eye health.
As a result much of the population (230k people blind & 1.47m visually impaired) is left without access to quality eye care services.
As a result much of the population (230k people blind & 1.47m visually impaired) is left without access to quality eye care services.
School children at Laxman Ganj Village School in Nepal
Vietnam
There are 300,000 adults and 23,000 children in Vietnam who are blind. While blindness in Vietnam has decreased over the last decade, the country continues to struggle with providing eye care, especially in rural areas. Quality of care, training and human resources still remain problematic, and overall awareness of how to prevent blindness is low.
Vietnamese paediatric patient Dieu talking to doctors
MONGOLIA
In Mongolia, access to high quality, affordable eye care services is limited in both urban and rural areas. Lack of equipment, training and infrastructure are major barriers to adequate care and there is no comprehensive framework to treat children’s eye disease.
