Did You Know That…

• 19 million children are visually impaired, and 1.4 million are blind.
• Childhood blindness is strongly associated with poverty as the lack of proper healthcare, cleanliness and public awareness create barriers in treating eye trauma.
• 50% of childhood blindness can be prevented or treated!
• Childhood blindness not only affects a child’s health and education, but is a costly for the family and the State.
• ORBIS was one of the first leading organizations in developing countries to make pediatric blindness and prevention a priority. 

ORBIS's Impact on Pediatric Eye Care

Combatting childhood blindness has become a primary focus of ORBIS’s work as a response to the World Health Organization’s initiative to increase children’s eye care services in the developing world. In the last 11 years, ORBIS has been instrumental in the facilitation of 55 pediatric eye care centres in India,China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and South Africa. In 2011, ORBIS also facilitated in developing 10 pediatric eye care centres in sub-Saharan Africa, a region where one in every five children are blind.

ORBIS is dedicated on providing comprehensive child eye-health programmes which oversees all components of a child’s diagnosis, from prevention to rehabilitation. Working with local governments and health professionals through a capacity building approach, ORBIS tries to find appropriate solutions based on regional needs which will allow for quality and sustainable eye care.  

To read about how ORBIS's work has impacted the life of one young boy, click here. 


Are YOU Up for the Challenge? 

In order to continue facilitating our pediatric centres, ORBIS Canada hosts an annual Pull for Sight plane pull. The pull requires teams of 20-25 people to pull a plane 12 feet in the fastest time. To learn more, please click on the location closest to you.