ORBIS International

​Orbis is a leading global non-governmental organization that transforms lives through the prevention and treatment of blindness. With our network of partners, we mentor, train, and inspire local teams to fight blindness in their local communities. The concept of Orbis was born in the late 1960s in the mind of Dr. David Paton, a renowned US ophthalmologist! Dr. Paton was a faculty member of The Wilmer Eye Institute at John Hopkins who, after extended experiences abroad, recognized the lack of eye care and ophthalmic teaching in low-income countries where blindness was widespread. With help from various supporters, a donated plane from United Airlines, and a grant from USAID, a DC-8 plane was converted into the world’s first fully functional teaching eye hospital. The first Flying Eye Hospital was officially christened in Houston, Texas at the Ellington Air Force Base and took off on its first project to Panama in May 1982.