What We Do
Eye Exams & Education
Comprehensive eye exams can provide important findings of one’s overall health. Many people in rural areas do not have access to an optometrist.
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With the help of Eyes for the World’s team of optometrist, patients receive eye exams, and a course of action. The EFTW team will educate each patient on the visual impairments and their treatment plan.
What is a comprehensive eye exam?
A comprehensive eye exam consists of about five tests to check different aspects of the eyes health.
Visual acuity tests measure the sharpness of your vision.
Cover test check to see how your eyes work together.
Retinoscopy test is used to obtain an approximation of your eyeglasses prescription.
Slit-Lamp examination allows the doctor to examine the health of the anterior and posterior segments of the eyes.
Tonometry measures the pressure inside your eyes.
Glaucoma Medications
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What is Glaucoma?
Glaucoma is a condition that occurs in the eye and causes damage to the optic nerve resulting from an increase in pressure. There are no early signs or symptoms but is more prevalent in people with diabetes, or can be hereditary.
Treatment
Thanks to our sponsors, Eyes for the World optometrist can provide glaucoma medication to those patients who have been diagnosed through their comprehensive eye exam. Volunteers can help educate patients about the impairment, and how to use their medication.
Cataract Surgery
The World Health Organization estimates that of 37 million blind people in the world; 90% live in developing countries, 80% of the cases are avoidable or treatable, and 48% are blind due to cataracts. This means, approximately 20 million people are blind because of cataracts.
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What is Cataracts?
Cataract is a clouding of the lens of the eye which obstructs the passage of light. Symptoms can include faded colors, blurry or double vision, halos around lights, difficulty seeing at night or being exposed to bright lights. To restore vision, a 30 minute surgery can be performed by an opthamologist.
Treatment
With the help of the optometrist who diagnose cataracts through the comprehensive eye exams, patients can be prepped for a cataract surgery. Eyes for the World opthamologist and nurses will perform about 100 surgeries, and will deliver pre and post-op to all patients at a local community hospital.
Restoring sight through cataract surgery will not only affect the physical condition of an individual, but will improve their quality of life in all other domains:social, and economic condition. This will allow individuals to return to work or school, and continue to perform daily tasks.
Prescription Eyeglasses
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Just as access to an optometrist is challenging for many rural communities, access to proper eyewear can be difficult or can be a financial burden to many. During our vision expeditions, Eyes for the World provides the best fitting prescription glasses to those in need. With the support of our sponsors we are able to provide hundreds of frames and lenses to reduce vision impairment among the community.
Prescription eyeglasses are used to correct a visual impairment of nearsightedness and farsightedness. People who are nearsighted can see objects close to them but need eyeglasses or contact lenses to see things in the distance. On the opposite side of the spectrum, people who are farsighted can see far away, but need assistance to see things close to them.
Protective Sunglasses
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Many of the people in the communities Eyes for the World visit on their vision expeditions work long hours, in labour intensive environments that are predominantly outdoors. With high UV levels in these regions, Eyes for the World volunteers educate the community about the damage the sun can cause and provide each person a free pair of 100% UVA/UVB protective sunglasses to prevent any eye damage.
The sun does so many amazing things for all of us Unfortunately, the sun emits ultraviolet (UV) rays that can damage our skin and eyes. Damage can include skin cancer, cataracts and macular degeneration. Thankfully, we can act and protect our eyes by wearing protective sunglasses to block UV ray damage.
Donate A Slit Lamp
Eyes for the World volunteer optometrists, ophthalmologists and nurses work closely with the
local medical professionals of the community. They provide community
sustainability and help to further educate about current medical trends. In some
of the villages, Eyes for the World visits may find that they have
one local optometrist, but may not have adequate equipment.
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Thanks to our partners, the Eyes for the World team will take along necessary medical equipment that can be used during the expedition but can also be donated to the local eye clinic.
A slit lamp is a specialized microscope that is used to magnify the anterior and posterior structures of the eyes. This allows detection of any infections, inflammations, or disease processes that may be present and allows for a more accurate diagnosis.