At Operation Eyesight, we believe this needs to change. That’s why we’re working to strengthen areas of overlap between primary eye care and primary health care in our countries of operation. That means supporting the World Health Assembly’s integrated people-centred eye care (IPEC) resolution by working to integrate eye health into national health systems – and increasing access to free or subsidized eye health care.

It also means addressing the root causes of avoidable vision loss. In some regions in Africa, we bring fresh water and hygiene education to communities to help prevent infectious eye conditions. We also work to make sure our services offer more than just eye care, but can also link patients to other types of health care.

Why eye health can’t be treated in isolation

Health conditions rarely exist in silos – and vision loss is no exception. Diabetes, for example, increases the risk of eye conditions like cataracts. For 15-year-old Vanessa in Zambia, blurry vision was one of the first signs of the disease. When she started having problems reading the blackboard at school, a teacher sent her to our vision centre in her community of Matero for a checkup. From there, she received a referral to our partner hospital, where she learned that she not only had cataracts, but diabetes as well. Doctors helped her get her blood sugar levels under control, and then she got cataract surgery. Today, she is managing her diabetes and thriving in school, with dreams of becoming a doctor.

Vision problems can also cause a downward mental health spiral. Benson, a farmer in Kenya, lost his ability to work due to poor vision. As a result, he became angry and depressed, then turned to alcohol and drugs to cope with his situation. Luckily, his family got him into a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility, where a visiting doctor diagnosed him with cataracts. Benson underwent surgery on both eyes, provided free of charge thanks to the support of our donors, and can see clearly now. Buoyed by his miraculous recovery, Benson finished up his time at the rehabilitation facility and happily threw himself back into farming.

Integrating eye care into Canada’s health system

In Canada, where Operation Eyesight is based, navigating eye care can be confusing. While the Canada Health Act covers medically-necessary eye health services, routine vision care like eye exams and prescription glasses often isn’t part of the deal. That leaves provinces and territories to fill in the gaps, and the result is a patchwork system. For example, seniors in Ontario get routine eye exams covered once they hit 65, but in Newfoundland and Labrador, those same seniors might have to pay out-of-pocket. It’s inconsistent, and it’s especially tough on vulnerable populations.

There is some support through the Federal Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) program, which covers eye exams and eyewear for eligible First Nations and Inuit individuals. But even that has its hurdles: remote communities, limited healthcare infrastructure and cultural differences that make accessing care more complicated than it should be.

The passage of the National Strategy for Eye Care Act in 2024 was a major step forward in addressing these issues. As chair of the Canadian Eye Health Coalition, Operation Eyesight is helping shape a national framework that prioritizes equitable access to vision care. Our Global Director of International Programs, Kris Kelm, explains why it’s important that we have a seat at the table during the consultation period and beyond.

“We know that there will be many voices in this conversation with diverse interests, and we want to ensure there is representation from patients who have the least means and the least ability to access vision care,” he says. “The fact that we have over 60 years of experience working in this sector gives us a strong background to speak credibly to how we need to approach things in Canada, and our community partners can provide valuable insights to help shape eye care for all.”

He adds that Canada can learn from some of our countries of work, where eye health has been better integrated into the overall health systems and other public frameworks. As an example, he points to Ghana, where we work with the ministries of health and education to screen and treat students for eye conditions in the public school system. We have similar programs in Kenya and Zambia, too.

Another example is in India, where we are working with state governments to establish vision services in pre-existing government health centres. Building the capacity of vision care facilities within the country’s national health care system ensures that services reach the most underserved populations, as patients who are able to pay most typically seek care at for-profit facilities, rather than attending government services.

Community health workers: Integrating eye care at the community level

Shakuntala, in Madhya Pradesh, India, spends her days walking door to door through villages in her region, checking in on the health and well-being of families. She’s one of the million-strong network of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), employed by the Indian government, who deliver primary health care at the community level.

Her work includes providing pregnancy advice, supporting newborn care, educating parents about vaccinations and vitamins for children, and making all kinds of referrals to local clinics and hospitals. In 2022, Shakuntala added another set of skills to her toolkit: conducting primary eye health screenings, thanks to training provided by our Operation Eyesight team, in partnership with the Government of Madhya Pradesh. Shakuntala learned to measure visual acuity using an eye chart. She also learned to identify the signs and symptoms of various eye conditions. Once she identifies a patient with a possible eye condition, she refers them to the base hospital for diagnosis and treatment. In the meantime, she continues to provide advice and referrals on nutrition, vaccinations, prenatal care and other health concerns.

Shakuntala is just one of the thousands of community health workers we work with across the globe. In all our countries of work, we partner with existing health systems to recruit community health workers, mostly women, to help us deliver our programs. The health workers develop strong ties within the communities, resulting in high acceptance and trust in our programming.

Mabel, a community health nurse in Ghana, was trained in primary eye care so that she could identify eye health issues in addition to her regular duties. She says that being able to screen people at their home allows her to reach many women and girls who probably wouldn’t have left the village to seek eye health care, due to household responsibilities.

Water and WASH for sight

Anyone who has had a case of pink eye knows that having red, inflamed and itchy eyes isn’t much fun. But in some parts of the world, an eye infection can be a much more serious problem. Trachoma is an infectious eye disease that leads to vision loss and blindness in millions of people across the globe. It spreads easily through contact with eye discharge from infected people on hands and clothing, and through flies. If left untreated, chronic infections turn the eyelid inwards, causing intense pain and scarring of the cornea, which can lead to irreversible blindness.

Trachoma is preventable, and clean water is key to curbing the spread. When communities have access to clean water, people can clean their hands, faces and clothing more often, which prevents it from spreading.

In countries like Zambia, we work with Water Affairs (the government department responsible for water) to drill, rehabilitate and repair boreholes near where people live, work and go to school, so that whole villages have access to clean water. We also provide training to local volunteers in these communities in WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) and borehole repair and maintenance to ensure the clean water continues to flow. In areas where trachoma is endemic, we also work with partners to distribute antibiotics, which both treats and prevents trachoma.

It’s another way that we work to address one of the root causes of avoidable vision loss, but it also helps us tie into improved health outcomes overall. Accessible clean water helps prevent dozens of infectious diseases. It also improves quality of life for women and girls, who are often tasked with the job of fetching water, which can take up hours out of the day and prevent them from participating in school, work or other activities. Moreover, clean water means people can grow vegetable gardens, raise livestock and keep entire families, and communities, happier and healthier.

Tying it all together

When we invest in sight, we invest in education, productivity and dignity. To eliminate avoidable vision loss, vision care needs to be recognized as a public health priority and integrated into national health strategies. Operation Eyesight’s global experience – from rehabilitating boreholes in Zambia to collaborating with partners on new policies in Canada – demonstrates that integrating eye health into primary care, addressing environmental determinants like access to clean water, and empowering community health workers leads to sustainable, measurable outcomes. Policymakers have a critical role to play in building resilient health systems that ensure equitable access to vision care for all.

Read more about our approach to Hospital-Based Community Eye Health.

The post Why we’re working to integrate eye care into primary health care appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

For 17-year-old Jennifer from Ghana, blurred vision made it difficult to keep up in class — until a simple pair of eyeglasses changed her life. 

“I first noticed that I could not see objects clearly at a distance,” recalls Jennifer, who attends school in the Mfantseman District of Ghana’s Central Region. For three years, she struggled in silence, telling no one about her condition. As her vision worsened, she began relying on classmates to help her read the blackboard. 

Relief came when Operation Eyesight hosted an eye health screening at her school. Diagnosed with a serious refractive error, Jennifer received a pair of prescription eyeglasses, free of charge.

Today, Jennifer is thriving and optimistic about her future. “I am happy with these new spectacles!” she says.

Jennifer’s story is far too common. Globally, nearly 450 million children and adolescents face similar vision challenges that could easily be solved with a pair of prescription eyeglasses. Additionally, 40 per cent of children who are blind could have had their eye conditions prevented with access to eye health care, according to the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB).  

Shining a light on child eye health on World Sight Day

On October 10, the global eye health community will celebrate #WorldSightDay, encouraging everyone to prioritize their eye health. This year’s theme highlights the importance of eye care for children, inspiring young people to ‘love their eyes’.  

“Every day, preventable and treatable eye health issues cause children to miss out on learning and social opportunities,” says Kashinath Bhoosnurmath, President and CEO of Operation Eyesight. “They do not just deserve but have the right to a happy childhood. Healthy eyes enable kids to learn, play, and thrive, setting them on a path for life.”

Untreated vision loss can have lifelong consequences, especially for children in low- and middle- income countries, who are five times less likely to attend school if they have a vision impairment, states the IAPB. Providing accessible and quality eye care helps meet the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of Quality Education (SDG 4) and Good Health & Well-being (SDG 3). 

School Eye Health Programs: Reaching children where they are and raising awareness of programs on World Sight Day

In 2023, Operation Eyesight screened more than 240,000 students at 1,133 schools across South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. By training teachers and healthcare workers to identify vision problems, we ensure youths like Jennifer receive the care they need. 

Child eye health is about more than providing eyeglasses; it’s about creating long-term solutions. In places like Ethiopia, Kenya and Zambia, trachoma is a leading cause of vision loss. If left untreated, this bacterial infection can lead to irreversible blindness. Along with mass drug administrations (MDAs) to clear infections, our teams also bring communities local access to fresh water and educate people about the importance of washing their hands, faces and clothing to reduce transmission of the infection. 

Yashwant Sinha, our Director of International Programmes, says Operation Eyesight’s clean water projects have had a ripple effect in the lives of female students. 

“In many communities across sub-Saharan Africa, the task of hauling water falls to women and girls. Local access to fresh water has boosted school attendance, because girls no longer have to spend hours fetching water,” Yashwant says. “In many communities, attendance of girls at school has improved.”

He adds that in Ethiopia, these benefits have been bolstered by Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programs both in the community and at schools, as well as menstrual hygiene training, including how to create reusable sanitary pads using local materials. 

These efforts also support the UN SDGs related to Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6) and Gender Equality (SDG 5). 

A comprehensive approach to eye health

Our work extends beyond schools. Operation Eyesight’s global team of Community Health Workers (CHWs) enables us to be present in the community and reach patients who otherwise would not have access to quality eye health care.

By conducting door-to-door screenings, CHWs help families understand the importance of seeking eye care, ensuring that no man, woman or child goes without eye health screening and referral if needed. Through public health education, we also promote awareness about hygiene and overall health, linking residents with local healthcare resources. 

“Healthy eyes are just one part of a person’s overall health and well-being, and we are also focused on addressing other determinants of eye health,” Yashwant explains.

“Our CHWs and other local staff connect new moms with pre- and post-natal care and also connect families with immunization clinics to help give kids the best start.”

Addressing complex conditions early

Some vision issues, like Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), need intervention much earlier. ROP is one of the leading causes of vision loss in children in India, and preterm infants are at high risk of developing this condition which leads to lifelong blindness. 

Shabana, from a small village in Uttar Pradesh, India, delivered her son Aarsh when she was only seven months pregnant. Thanks to Operation Eyesight’s partnership with C.L. Gupta Eye Institute (CLGEI) in nearby Moradabad city, Aarsh was screened and treated for ROP, saving him from a life without sight.

“Aarsh’s journey is a testament to the transformative power of our ROP screening program,” says Lokesh Chauhan, Deputy General Manager at CLGEI. “Aarsh’s bright eyes now reflect a world of possibilities.”

Ocular cancers such as retinoblastoma not only cause blindness but can also be fatal. In India, retinoblastoma accounts for about three per cent of all cancers affecting children under five, and it is reported in an article in the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology that there are about 1,500 new cases reported each year. 

Timely treatment of this cancer can save the lives of more than nine out of 10 children suffering from this disease, including children like Alok, pictured above. In many cases, a child’s vision can also be saved, but early screening and treatment are essential. Thanks to the help of our generous donors, in 2015, Operation Eyesight, in partnership with LVPEI, opened one of the few facilities in the world that specializes in treating ophthalmic tumours in both children and adults.

Tapobrat Bhuyan, our Programme Manager in India, adds that untreated vision loss can also have long-term effects on children’s self-esteem.

“Clear vision and healthy eyes open the door of possibility. For a child, it’s a chance to have a full childhood, which has long-term impacts for their trajectory in life,” Tapobrat explains. “Vision loss and blindness have been proven to prevent social inclusion and can negatively impact mental health.”

Looking ahead: World Sight Day 2024

Vision is crucial for a child’s development — whether in the classroom, playground, or at home. It’s no surprise that 80 per cent of a child’s learning is visual, according to multiple studies. Wherever they live, access to quality eye health care helps give young people the best possible start in life, paving the way for success for years to come. 

Access to eye health care isn’t just an issue in low- and middle-income countries. Globally, myopia is on the rise. Commonly known as nearsightedness, myopia makes it difficult to see distant objects clearly. The number of children experiencing myopia is increasing, driven by excessive screen time. In 2020, 60 per cent of children in Asia and 50 per cent in Europe had myopia. 

Reducing screen time and scheduling regular eye exams are simple steps we can take to protect our children’s vision. A 2021 study found that extended screen time is associated with a 30 per cent higher risk of myopia, which requires prescription eyeglasses. When combined with excessive computer use, the risk more than doubles, reaching approximately 80 per cent.

In Canada, some provinces offer free eye exams to children and seniors as part of provincial health care. Access to eyeglasses is one of the most effective health interventions for kids.

Download our child eye health resources on our World Sight Day page to learn more and help the children in your life love their eyes.

World Sight Day 2024 is a chance to focus on our kids’ eye health and help children and adolescents everywhere love their eyes.

Help all children love their eyes this World Sight Day

You can also help ensure that no child is left behind due to preventable vision loss. Together, we can create a world where every child has access to quality and affordable eye health care. Make a donation today to help bring sustainable eye health solutions to children living in communities that need them most.

The post World Sight Day 2024: A Focus on Child Eye Health appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

His story is a common one. Global estimates suggest that people with moderate to severe vision impairment are about 30 per cent less likely to be employed than those with good eyesight.¹ For lack of a pair of eyeglasses, for want of a simple cataract surgery, millions of people are unable to work. It can keep entire families stuck in the cycle of poverty.

Abraham’s story has a happy ending. After meeting a community health volunteer during a door-to-door eye health screening, he was diagnosed with bilateral cataracts and got sight-restoring surgery on both of his eyes at one of our partner hospitals. He started taking in shoes for repair once again.

But many people won’t get back to work like Abraham did. And that’s because basic eye care isn’t available or accessible to them. According to estimates, about 2.2 billion people worldwide have vision impairment, and in roughly half of those cases, the vision loss could have been prevented or hasn’t yet been treated.²

Lack of access to eye health care

For many people across the globe, the neighbourhood optometry clinic simply doesn’t exist. While people in Western Europe enjoy a ratio of one optometrist to every 3,877 people, countries in central sub-Saharan Africa reported a ratio of one to every 1,198,141 people, according to a 2023 study.³ Even when there is an eye care provider in a nearby city, the barriers to reaching them can be insurmountable for some people living in remote and rural areas. Many can’t afford the bus or train fare, let alone the fees for diagnosis and treatment. And for women and children, travelling alone can be dangerous, so they often need to wait for someone – usually the family breadwinner – to take time off work to escort them. For those with seriously impaired vision or other disabilities, travel might be nearly impossible.

Every day, the community health workers who do eye screenings on our behalf meet people who have previously tried to solve their vision issues without success. Many patients had visited the nearest healthcare provider, often a local dispensary, and were sent home with eyedrops or told their vision couldn’t be treated. Some had bounced around from clinic to clinic, others had resigned themselves to living out their days in blindness. That is why we are working hard to provide eye health care services at the community level.

By connecting people with our partner vision centres and hospitals, helping cover fees and offering safe transportation to the hospital, we can help restore vision to people who may never have gotten treatment otherwise. It’s just one of the ways we are working towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number one: No Poverty. By addressing some of the root causes of poverty, like poor eyesight, we can help people stay employed and stay in school.

How eyeglasses can improve income

The global productivity loss attributed to impaired vision is estimated at US $411 billion annually.⁴ And those effects can be seen on the individual level as well.

A recent study looking at workers with presbyopia between the ages of 35-65 in Bangladesh found that those who had reading glasses made 33 per cent more than those who did not.⁵ The study, published in PLOS ONE, tracked the incomes of more than 10,000 participants who work in near-vision intensive occupations – like tailors, mechanics and carpenters – over eight months. Half of the participants received reading glasses right away, while the control group only got a pair after the eight months of data collection. The eyeglasses themselves cost only about US$3-4 per pair but had the potential to transform the lives of the workers.

Another study of tea pickers with presbyopia in India found similar results in 2018.⁶ In that case, the three-month study found that a pair of reading glasses increased productivity for the plantation workers – who are paid by the kilogram of leaves picked – by about 22 per cent, and 32 per cent for those over the age of 50.

As these studies show, addressing vision loss can increase productivity and provide greater economic opportunities for individuals.

The chicken or the egg

Like many other health issues, it can be difficult to untangle the relationship between low incomes and eye health problems. Poor vision can lead to poverty because people often lose or quit their jobs when they’re no longer capable of doing them effectively or safely.

Take Junmoni in India, for example. The mother of two dreamed of sending her daughter to college with her earnings making handwoven fabrics on her loom. But when her vision became blurry, she had to stop weaving. Money got so tight that she was on the brink of selling her handloom. Fortunately she met a community health worker who told her she just needed to visit the local vision centre to get a pair of eyeglasses. Junmoni now wears her prescription eyeglasses while working at her handloom, her dreams for her daughter back on track.

But just as vision loss can lead to poverty, the opposite may also be true.

An infectious eye disease, called trachoma, continues to cause vision loss and blindness in dozens of countries around the world. It is widespread in some rural areas, and also in regions where there are high rates of poverty. The bacteria spreads through personal contact, via hands, clothes and bedding, and by flies that have been in contact with discharge from an infected person. It is most common in areas where people don’t have access to clean water or have to travel long distances for water.

If left untreated, trachoma causes the eyelashes to turn inward and scratch the cornea, leading to severe pain, vision loss and even blindness.

The spread of trachoma can be managed when people have access to clean water, allowing for more frequent hand and face washing, and the cleaning of clothing and bedding. Antibiotics can also help prevent and treat trachoma in areas where it is endemic.

We work with partners and communities in Ethiopia, Kenya and Zambia to prevent the spread of trachoma by helping establish water boreholes and latrines and administering antibiotics.

Ninety per cent of vision loss is preventable or treatable, but people living in underserved communities are more likely to go blind. In fact, 90 per cent of people with vision loss live in low- and middle-income countries, which is why we’re working in these areas.

Reaching the unreached

Lack of education is another factor that keeps vision loss in lockstep with poverty. Some people don’t seek eye health care simply because they believe their condition is untreatable. Many older patients believe that vision loss, even blindness, is just an inevitable part of aging. In some communities there may be additional fear or distrust of medical authorities based on previous experiences, myths or other cultural stigmas.

By reaching people in their homes and communities through door-to-door eye screenings and eye camps, we can offer basic eye health education and choice to those who might never get treatment otherwise. And in cases where a patient might be hesitant to get surgery, our community-based approach enables health workers to continue counselling patients over weeks and months, reassuring them, explaining the benefits of a procedure and often convincing them to get treatment in the end.

Another way we work to prevent the devastating effects of vision loss is by making sure the youngest people in our project areas learn about eye health. By offering eye screenings and education in schools, organizations like ours can reach thousands of families through their children, who go home brimming with excitement over the vision test they took at school, and what they learned about eye health. By providing children with referrals to the nearest vision centre or partner hospital, the whole family is made aware of the services that are available to them.

Effects on the whole family

The effects of a cataract surgery often ripple down through the beneficiary’s entire family. We hear of many young women who have given up jobs or dropped out of school to care for a senior family member who has gone blind. Once the family member has had their vision restored through cataract surgery, they often regain their independence, freeing up their caregiver to devote that time to work, school or other economic opportunities.

And parents who have had their vision problems corrected, like Junmoni, are better placed to keep their children in school longer, and even send them off to advanced education, potentially lifting future generations out of poverty.

Finally, children with vision problems who get corrective eyeglasses or treatment fare better at school. In fact, prescription eyeglasses have been shown to have a greater impact on academic achievement than other health interventions, like nutrition and deworming programs.⁷ This is why we are currently expanding our school eye health programs, so we can help more children thrive in school so they can get the best possible start on their working lives.

The road ahead

While many organizations like ours are collaborating with partners, governments and funders to address vision loss and blindness, aging populations and population growth mean that the problem will increase if we don’t act quickly. Some estimates say that by 2050, half of the global population will have myopia.⁸

You can help us continue our mission to prevent blindness and restore sight by following us on our social media accounts, signing up for our newsletter and sharing what you’ve learned with friends and family. Join our global community today.

1. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(21)00132-2/fulltext ↩︎
2.  https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/328717/9789241516570-eng.pdf ↩︎
3. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/375055096_Global_mapping_of_optometry_workforce ↩︎
4. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(20)30488-5/fulltext ↩︎
5. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0296115 ↩︎
6. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(18)30329-2/fulltext ↩︎
7. https://educationcommission.org/updates/providing-eyeglasses-school-age-children-high-impact-investment-education/ ↩︎
8. https://www.essilorseechange.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Eliminating-Poor-Vision-in-a-Generation-Report.pdf ↩︎

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When I travel to our countries of work and to the target villages, I see that eye health is about far more than sight. I have learnt that eye health is about children being able to learn, play at school and practice hygiene. It is about adults being able to work and run businesses, access clean water, herd animals, grow crops and care for children. It is about seniors who can meet their friends, travel and chase after their grandchildren. Eye health is about reaching everyone in a community, addressing all the avoidable vision loss issues and empowering the community to take care of their eye health themselves. Often, this is the impact of partnerships between organizations and governments, hospitals and communities with a shared vision to improve quality of life. Actually, health and partnerships are so important that they have been identified in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN) as necessary for a peaceful and prosperous world.  

This June, I am attending the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) global event, 2030 IN SIGHT LIVE in Mexico. (See above for a photo of my eye health peers and I at last year’s event.) As an elected IAPB board member and someone who has been leading health and eye health care programmes for more than 35 years, I will join hands with fellow experts and organizations in the eye health sector to apply our collective knowledge to address:   

1. What needs to be done to transform the vision of universal eye care into a global reality by 2030? 

2. What ground-breaking approaches will accelerate action and transform eye health? 

3. What steps can we take to embed conscious, inclusive and sustainable best practices across the eye health sector? 

4. What can we do to harness our strengths and diverse skills to increase momentum together to empower change? 

5. To address diverse needs and shape the future of eye health, how can we meet the rising demand and changing landscapes with strategic sustainable solutions? 

My experience has shown me that a key part of the answer to all these questions lies in the power of partnerships. By working together, we can build sustainable strategies that connect international agencies, national governments, hospitals, and health care workers, and extend right down into the communities and each person there.   

Partnerships at the strategic, implementational and program levels will ensure that multiple players can focus on their strengths – from sharing eye health care data with international agencies that set global goals, to working with national governments to include eye health in health care and education policies, to supporting hospitals and training health care workers who treat vision issues, to empowering communities to identify and address vision problems for everyone who lives there. Through partnerships, we stand together so we have more visibility. We have more influence and more funding. We have more technical expertise, and we have more community connections.  

Over more than 60 years, Operation Eyesight has developed a sustainable model of community empowerment. I take great pride in our flagship model, which is not only sustainable but also scalable. This model serves as evidence to the successful implementation of the World Health Organization’s five recommendations outlined in its World Report on Vision 2019: making eye care a part of universal health care, integrating people-centred eye care into health systems, promoting high-quality implementation and health systems research that compliments evidence for effective eye health care interventions, monitoring trends and evaluating progress for effective eye care interventions, and raising awareness, engaging and empowering people and communities about eye care needs. I attribute the success of this model to our dedicated partners and the communities we serve. 

When we partner with others, we become the bridge between health care services and communities. While many organizations work down to the hospital level, we start with the hospital and work down to the community level where we reach all those individuals who are in need of eye care. With the hospital, we identify a service area and build a local vision centre. Next, we train local community health care workers in the community. In our nine countries of work, our network of more than 2,500 community health care workers conduct door-to-door surveys, knocking on doors and identifying people with vision challenges. These workers then refer people to the vision centre for eye exams and prescription eyeglasses or treatment for eye diseases. Those with issues that require services beyond the vision centre, such as cataract, are referred to the local hospital for surgery. Once all avoidable vision loss cases are addressed, the community is declared avoidable blindness-free. The community can then sustain this as they now have ownership of their own eye health care.  

Time and time again we have seen this model work. We are publishing research on the results, investing in resources to replicate it, and harnessing partnerships to bring this model to new communities and new countries of work.  

In Mexico City, I plan to reconnect with current partners and meet new partners. I will learn from them about their perspectives on the five key questions IAPB is asking and share my views with them. Additionally, I will discuss what more Operation Eyesight can do to further strengthen our partnerships and chart a future course that allows us to collectively reach out to many more individuals and communities. I look forward to seeing so many global community members in Mexico City and to working together to answer the five IAPB questions. I believe that together, we have the power to transform eye health care – For All The World To See.    

Join our global community, partner with us and we will transform more lives together.

The post The Power of Partnerships: Seeing is Believing by Kashinath Bhoosnurmath appeared first on Operation Eyesight.