UK Government’s aid budget cut puts Orbis’ sight-saving work at risk

2023-09-20 20:07:47

Orbis has just received the difficult news that cuts in the UK Government’s aid budget puts our sight-saving work at risk.

Orbis projects are facing an estimated 22% decrease in funding in the current financial year which will have serious consequences for people facing vision loss and visual impairment in some of the world’s poorest countries like Ethiopia and Bangladesh.

The global community has made great progress in tackling avoidable blindness: In 2017, blindness was projected to triple to nearly 115 million people by 2050. Thanks to remarkable efforts and global collaboration the increase has slowed, and it is now projected to reach 60 million by 2050. Now is not the moment to step back from supporting the most vulnerable people, thereby allowing decades of progress to falter.

Since 2008, the UK Government has made a significant commitment to support the complex global effort to control Neglected Tropical Diseases, of which the eye disease trachoma is one. Big strides have been made to eliminate trachoma in Ethiopia, and we’re not prepared to let the withdrawal of our Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office grant midway through the project disturb the momentum that has been generated. So we are exploring how we can fund the remaining two years of the project from alternative sources.

When the UK should be leading the international community ahead of the G7 and COP26 climate summit, cutting support for blindness and vision loss deepens inequality and threatens the livelihoods and education of those who can no longer access treatment.

If you feel strongly that the most vulnerable deserve better, please write to your MP to express your concerns and to state your support for overseas aid. You can also share our posts on Facebook or Twitter and tag your MP.

Source: Orbis UK

Date: 10 May 2021

More news

Newsletter Wilmer Eye Institute – Full member of the WAEH

Dear friends and colleagues, September is always a busy time, with students returning to classes, the days growing shorter and ophthalmology meetings taking place with increasing frequency. In this issue, we look at some of the places our faculty members have been recently and some of the exciting research and knowledge they’ve been sharing. Don’t […]

Global eye hospital specialists converge on Melbourne

The 17th World Association of Eye Hospitals (WAEH) annual meeting 11 and 12 October The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital (Eye and Ear) is gearing up to host a gathering of eye hospital professionals from around the globe as part of the WAEH annual meeting. Founded in 2007 by eight leading eye hospitals and departments, […]

Certificate Course on Community Outreach and Social Marketing of Eye Care

November 16 – December 4, 2023 – In-person course at LAICO, Madurai, India Course will help your outreach staff to learn how to conduct an effective outreach programme. Participants will learn to establish processes and systems for effective planning, execution and monitoring of an outreach programme This in-person course combines didactic sessions, field visits, community […]

Head of Lions Eye Donation Service – Victoria

The Lions Eye Donation Service (LEDS) is a world leading non-profit eye bank responsible for stewarding the end-of-life eye donations, of Victorian donors, toward transplantation, research and training. We offer a comprehensive donation medical service, from referral and consent, to donation, medical suitability determination, surgical retrieval, evaluation, preservation and allocation of human ocular tissue. Since inception, […]

Gene Therapy: Tom Edwards

Meet Dr. Tom Edwards! He is a Melbourne-based vitreoretinal surgeon who also leads a research team investigating retinal gene therapy at the University of Melbourne affiliated Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) based at the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital. Dr. Edwards is working on a number of research projects, including an ongoing world […]