Social commitment – in the service of society
Eye health is the right of every person – at Oertli, we are convinced of it. That is why we commit ourselves to help people in poor regions, crisis and development areas by providing access for them to eye surgery. We support chosen organisations that share our interest in this respect and actively commit themselves. With the CataRhex 3, we have developed a surgical platform that is mobile and ready for use quickly – ideally suited for surgical interventions in difficult situations.
Preventing blindness - bringing light to the world
How to prevent blindness worldwide? This is a question Thomas Bosshard has taken to heart, providing deep insights into how people get their sight back at TEDxHWZ. This is thanks to the help of innovative surgical procedures and the insanely commendable work of Dr. Sanduk Ruit.
Fundación Elena Barraquer | #NoMoreCataracts
The Fundación Elena Barraquer has dedicated itself to the credo: #NoMoreCataracts since more than 13 years. Over 100 medical missions and 12’000 operated cataracts are just the tip of the iceberg. Dr. Elena Barraquer and her team always aims to return the vision to blind people with their medical expeditions.
Cure Blindness | Himalayan Cataract Project
The Himalayan Cataract Project commits itself to remove preventable and curable blindness in development countries. Since its foundation in 1995, the project has performed more than 600,000 eye surgeries in collaboration with its global partners, mostly in improvised mobile eye clinics.
According to the World Health Organization WHO, cataract surgery belongs to the most cost-effective health measures. The manual and seamless procedure can be performed within 10 minutes, material costs only amount to 25 US dollars. Yet, an intervention can have a lifelong impact on a person’s life.
Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology | Nepal Eye Program
The Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology is the centre for eye health in Kathmandu and part of the Nepal Eye Program. The charitable non-governmental organisation was founded in 1992 with the goal of preventing and treating blindness and eye diseases in Nepal and the whole region. The Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology (TIO) serves the purpose of treatment, research and training. It acts independently, but works together with other ophthalmology centres and organisations in Nepal.
Outreach Microsurgery Eye Clinics (OMECs)
Many people in remote areas of Nepal suffer from poor eyesight, which can have disastrous impacts on their physical, social and economic lives. The Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology offers a unique service to these people and has developed a special outreach programme for eye examination and cataract surgery: the so-called Outreach Microsurgery Eye Clinics (OMECs) are set up temporarily in difficultly accessible areas of the country.
Dr. Sanduk Ruit
Dr. Sanduk Ruit is an ophthalmologist who restores the sight of blind people in Nepal. He is the director of the non-profit Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology in Kathmandu, Nepal. Dr. Sanduk Ruit has operated more than 130,000 patients during his involvement in Nepal. With his work in the most remote areas of Nepal, he has set himself the goal of performing eye operations in regions that do not have access to health care.
SEE International
SEE International is a nonprofit, humanitarian organization that provides medical, surgical, and educational services to restore sight and make high-quality eye care more accessible around the world. Their network of volunteer medical professionals helps combat preventable blindness with free sight-restoring surgeries and eye care for communities in need. Since 1974, SEE has served over four million individuals, trained over 600 eye care professionals, and performed over 600,000 surgeries across the globe. SEE works to develop sustainable health solutions to ensure that everyone can get the vision care they need, regardless of their location or circumstances.
University of Utah | Moran Eye Center
The Moran Eye Center trains doctors, nurses and other ophthalmologists in more than 25 countries. The world's most promising surgeons are invited to Utah for intensive training. In the local medical camps, Moran surgeons restore vision to hundreds of patients in a single week while helping local students gain experience. Whether working in medical eye camps, local hospitals or community clinics, the Moran team focuses on instructing local doctors in performing surgeries and training doctors and OR staff in basic ophthalmologic procedures.
IAPB International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness
The IAPB (International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness) is a worldwide aid organisation focusing on the prevention of blindness and low vision. In cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO), the IAPB has set itself the goal of bringing the causes of blindness closer to the population and raising their awareness. The IAPB supports the exchange with eye surgeons, non-profit organisations (NGOs), educational institutions and volunteers with national programmes. One of IAPB's great achievements has been to build a WHO blindness and low vision team for worldwide missions.
International Eye Institute, Inc.
The International Eye Institute, Inc. is a private non-profit corporation. Their primary purpose is to provide adult and pediatric medical and surgical eye care to people with little access to these services. They work in collaboration with a number of hospitals and clinics, mostly in Guatemala as well as locations in Honduras, Peru and Nicaragua.
The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ
The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ carries on the work of a legendary New Zealander, the late Professor Fred Hollows. Fred was an internationally acclaimed eye surgeon and social justice activist who championed the right of all people to high-quality and affordable eye care.
The Foundation is part of a global organisation that works in more than 25 countries worldwide. Globally, 9 out of 10 people who are blind don’t need to be; their condition is preventable or treatable.
The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ works to end avoidable blindness and vision impairment in the Pacific. Alongside its partners, they work to restore sight, train local eye health specialists, and strengthen local health systems.
Health in Sight Mission
Health in Sight Mission is a US based non profit organization which has been delivering eye care to the people of Roatan, Honduras since 2005. Through cataract surgery, pterygium removal, glaucoma management, oculoplastics care, and comprehensive eye care services thousands of people have received care where previously they had no access.
Health in Sight Mission is working to establish a self-sustaining eye clinic eventually run by Honduran doctors and clinical staff which will not only care for underserved patients, but also provide job opportunities for locals. They are working closely with the local healthcare community, government, and service organizations understand the needs of the people and how to best serve the island.
La Familia Eye Center (Centro Oftalmológico La Familia), Guatemala
The La Familia Eye Center (LFEC), located at Hospital de la Familia, is the sole provider of charitable and affordable eye care in Western Guatemala and Southern Chiapas, Mexico. This region is one of the poorest in the Western Hemisphere. Their model emphasizes indigenized mentorship and collaboration between Latin American ophthalmologists and U.S. faculty and ensures sustainable vision care. Since 2016, over 40 Latin American ophthalmologists have trained and worked at LFEC, performing over 15,000 surgeries. With the goal of 10,000 surgeries annually by 2030, they are committed to serving this underserved population of 4 million people.
OHSU Casey Eye Institute
The OHSU Casey Eye Institute and American Samoa are collaborating on long-term strategies to educate and empower eye care professionals. Their goal is to deliver the highest standards of modern eye care at the L.B.J. Tropical Medical Center, addressing and preventing blindness in the territory. Through this partnership, they aim to enhance the skills and knowledge of local eye care providers, ensuring a brighter, healthier future for the residents of American Samoa.
Alina Vision Vietnam
Alina Eye Hospital in Hung Yen, Vietnam, is part of Alina Vision's initiative to provide high-quality, affordable eye care to underserved communities. Since its inception in 2018, the hospital has grown to include 10 beds, 2 operating theatres, and a dedicated team of 77 staff members. By July 2023, the hospital had performed over 19,000 surgeries, including 6,000 cataract surgeries, with 90% of patients achieving good vision post-operation. Alina Vision's model prioritizes financial sustainability and accessibility, ensuring that a significant portion of its services are free or affordable for those in need. This approach has allowed them to screen nearly 177,000 patients, dispense over 22,000 pairs of glasses, and maintain a strong impact on eye health in the region. Their efforts have been particularly focused on reaching women and underserved populations, with 58% of their patients being female and many services provided free of charge for those without insurance.
Laurel Surgical Foundation
Laurel Surgical Foundation (LSF) is a Canadian based NGO. The mission statement of LSF is "The enhancement of eye care through education". The team memebers are very experienced educators with years of experience in residency training and program development.
Mongolia, with a population of 3.4 million is the most sparsely populated country in the world and has a nomadic / rural population of over 1.4 million who face significant barriers to obtaining care.
LSF is working alongside Mongolian colleagues to develop a residency training program whose graduates have the surgical and medical skills to provide comprehensive care to the rural regions. Removing barriers to care will greatly improve access to care and help reduce the burden of blindness on the nomadic and rural populations. Oertli performed under less than ideal environment with the surgeons operating on very challenging cataracts in patients with advanced CDK.
Hayle Eye Clinic
Led by Dr. Abdirahman Hayle, Hayle Eye Clinic, with support from local NGOs, is dedicated to preventing blindness and providing high-quality eye care to underprivileged communities in Somalia. By conducting regular eye screening camps in Mogadishu and rural areas, they detect and treat vision problems early while referring serious cases for further care. Their efforts, including over 1,500 free surgeries annually, ensure a brighter future for countless individuals in need.
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We are dedicated to showcasing the remarkable contributions of NGOs like yours on our website, highlighting your transformative impact in the field working with our surgical platforms like the CataRhex 3. We invite you to share your organisation's details and stories with us so we can feature your efforts and promote the collective mission towards a brighter future for all. Fill out the form, and we will highlight your organisation on this website. We would be happy if you could also share some photos of your current mission with us, which we can use to highlight your work.
Worldwide commitment in an overview
CataRhex 3
The CataRhex 3 is more than just a mobile surgical platform for eye surgery. It is the perfect solution to make cutting-edge and perfectly proven cataract and glaucoma surgery accessible to people in poor regions, crisis and developmental areas. The CataRhex 3 places Oertli’s entire know-how and innovative power into a compact housing that provides surgeons with the greatest possible independence and safety in their work under any circumstances.