Vision Aid Overseas

Vision Aid Overseas aims to transform access to quality eyecare in developing countries. Over 500 million people worldwide are unnecessarily visually impaired because they do not have spectacles. This is due to the significant lack of eyecare services available in low and middle income countries. For people affected the consequences can be disadvantage and disability. Our vision is a world in which everyone has access to eyecare and spectacles.

Vision Aid Overseas develops sustainable eyecare services that ensure an impact for our patients:

• We establish International Vision Centres where high quality spectacles can be manufactured and sold at an affordable price following a thorough eye examination.
• We train healthcare workers in practical eye testing and vision health skills that equips them to work as primary eyecare workers in their local communities.
• We utilize the expertise of UK optical professionals who develop outreach services in areas away from existing facilities and who undertake teaching programmes across the developing world.

Our work is focused on improving the lives of people who are marginalised by poor eyesight and motivated by our belief that good vision should be a right for all, not just those who can afford it.

Our Vision-

Vision Aid Overseas works for a world in which everyone has access to eyecare and spectacles.

Programmes and Activities-

The work of Vision Aid Overseas focuses on three activities.

Optical Training
All developing countries suffer from a severe shortage of optical profesionals. VAO provides training for doctors and other health workers in its tagret countries, equipping them with the skills required to examine eyes and dispense spectacles.

Optical Workshop Development
VAO establishes optical workshops that employ local staff to glaze and manufacture spectacles to the precise requirements of each patient.

Direct Service Deliver
Vision Aid Overseas sends teams of volunteer optical professionals to some of the world's poorest countries. The volunteers set up clinics, screen large numbers of patients and provide spectacles where necessary.