We invest in hospital equipment and infrastructure, provide training for healthcare professionals and establish vision centres at the community level. The vision centres provide eye exams and eyeglasses and refer patients to the base hospital for surgery or other treatment.
We work with local hospitals to deliver quality eye health care services that meet community needs. The hospitals receive referrals and provide advanced treatment including eye surgery. We invest in equipment and infrastructure – from procuring slit lamps, to renovating operation theatres and everything in between. We also provide training for hospital staff – from administrative clerks and health workers, to ophthalmic nurses and cataract surgeons.
In addition to ensuring hospitals have the right infrastructure and staffing in place – what we call the ‘supply’ – we also work to increase ‘demand’ in the surrounding community. We do this through our network of trained community health workers. They go door to door in their communities, screening people for eye conditions, referring them to a vision centre or hospital as needed, educating them on eye health and general health, and increasing their awareness about the available eye health care services.
By improving both supply and demand, we are strengthening entire health systems and making eye health a standard part of the care provided.
Learn more about our Hospital-Based Community Eye Health Model here.
Videos – Training ophthalmic staff:
2024 Highlights:
Vision centres bring services closer to people’s doorsteps
Vision impairments such as nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism can often be corrected with a simple diagnosis and prescription eyeglasses, provided by a trained optician or ophthalmic technician using relatively basic equipment.
Vision centres are critical intermediary facilities, acting as a link between communities and our partner hospitals, connecting people with eye health care which was previously unaffordable or not possible to access due to a community’s remote location.
Many of the vision centres established through our projects become self-funding within approximately six months. This is made possible through a cost-recovery model, where revenue generated through the sale of eyeglasses from patients who can afford to pay for eye health care is in turn used to help offset the cost for those who are unable to pay.
Work is now underway to implement technology that will enable vision centres to expand the range of services they offer, so we can bring even more sight-saving services closer to people’s homes.
