• ORBIS pioneered the introduction of pediatric ophthalmology services in seven rural districts of India and raised public awareness of how pediatric blindness could be prevented.
  
  
• ORBIS built the first pediatric ophthalmology center in northern India, at Dr. Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital.
  
  
• On behalf of the nation’s eye banks, ORBIS strengthened the concept of a hospital-based corneal retrieval program on a national level. This concept was instituted in more than a dozen hospitals in India and served as a model for Sandhani Eye Bank in Bangladesh.
  
  
• During an ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital visit to New Delhi in 2005, a training surgical procedure onboard the plane was broadcast live by satellite to hospitals across India for the first time.
  
  
• ORBIS introduced Cyber-Sight, ORBIS’s telemedicine initiative, to provide worldwide, Internet-based ophthalmic patient consultation for free to any qualified partner in India.
  
  
• Indian doctors received training on virtual reality ophthalmic surgical simulators for the first time during ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital programs.

The ORBIS India office also oversees projects in Nepal. ORBIS partners in India and Nepal include:

Aravind Eye Hospital • Bangalore West Lions Super Specialty Eye Hospital • Christian Medical College & Hospital • Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences • Drashti Netralaya • Dr. Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital • Eye Bank Association of India • Eye Bank Society of Rajasthan • Himalaya Institute of Medical Sciences • H.V. Desai Eye Hospital • Indian Institute of Health Management and Research • Indian Institute of Management • Kalinga Eye Hospital • Khairabad Eye Hospital • L.V. Prasad Eye Institute • Lions NAB Eye Hospital • Little Flower Hospital • Lotus Eye Hospital • MGM Eye Hospital • Nepal Netra Joyti Sangh • Netra Niramay Niketan • Ramakrishna Mission Hospital • Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, Kolkata • Srikiran Institute of ophthalmology • Sankara Nethralaya • Sri Rana Ambika Shah Eye Hospital ( Nepal) • Sadguru Netra Chikitsalaya • Shri Ganapati Nethrayalaya • Sankara Eye Center • Sri Sankaradeva Nethralaya • Shri Vivekenanda Youth Movement (SVYM) • Suraj Eye Institute • The Global Hospital and Research Centre • Vision 2020 India Forum

Fact File

Population	1,065,462,0001
Population under 15	32.9%2
Population living below national poverty line	28.6%3
Life expectancy	624
Literacy rate	61%5
Rural population	71.7%6
Percentage of total ophthalmologists working in rural areas	20%7
Approximate number of surgically-active ophthalmologists	4,0008
GDP per capita	$5649
Health expenditure per capita	$3010
Health expenditure as % of total government expenditure	4.4%11
Prevalence of blindness*	0.6%12
Blind population*	6,700,00013
Prevalence of low vision**	2%14
Population with low vision**	21,309,24015
Prevalence of blindness under 15 years	0.0816
Leading causes of blindness	Cataract (51%), glaucoma (9%), AMD (5%), childhood blindness (4.8%)17
Leading causes of childhood blindness	Corneal scar, cataract, glaucoma, optic atrophy18
Ophthalmologists per million population	10.519
Number of ophthalmologists	11,00020

Footnotes

*Blindness is defined as visual acuity of less than 6/60 or a corresponding visual field loss to less than 10 degrees in the better eye with best possible correction.
** Low vision is defined as visual acuity of less than 6/18 but equal to or better than 3/60, or a corresponding visual field loss to less than 20 degrees in the better eye with best possible correction.