Orbis International Teams Up with the Alcon Foundation and OMEGA to Improve Eye Care in Zambia

The Orbis Flying Eye Hospital returns to Zambia for a three-week training project in Lusaka coinciding with World Sight Day on October 12

LUSAKA, Zambia, Sept. 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Global eye care nonprofit, Orbis International, is kicking off a surgical training program in Zambia on board the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital – the world’s only fully accredited ophthalmic teaching hospital on board a plane. There, Orbis clinical staff and Volunteer Faculty (medical experts) will provide hands-on simulation and surgical training to eye care professionals from across Zambia. For the first time, Zambian ophthalmologists trained through Orbis-sponsored and other fellowships will work alongside Flying Eye Hospital staff and Volunteer Faculty to deliver simulation training to ophthalmology residents. With continuing support from the Alcon Foundation and OMEGA, this collaboration will focus on improving adult and pediatric eye care in Zambia, where it’s estimated that at least 4% of the population experiences blindness that could be avoided, and there exists only one ophthalmologist per 556,000 Zambians, leaving eye care needs largely unmet.