We began partnering with communities in Ghana in 2006 and have since provided quality eye health care to nearly five million people. To date, we have partnered with communities across 37 districts to construct or renovate eye units, upgrade ophthalmic equipment and train health care staff in primary- and specialist-level eye care. Our programs are designed to provide a full range of eye health care services, allowing us to address common eye conditions such as cataract and uncorrected refractive error, as well as more complex cases such as diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma.

2022 marked a major milestone for eye health care in Ghana, as we declared the community of Asafora, in the district of Mfantseman, the country’s first Avoidable Blindness-Free Village. This was the culmination of community outreach activities and partnership with the local hospital. Building on this success, we also launched a Hospital-Based Community Eye Health Program in the district of Awutu Senya, where our team of local community health workers provided eye health screening for more than 22,000 people.

We have established Watborg Eye Services in 2006 and the facility is operated by Dr. Boateng Wiafe, our technical advisor. Dr. Bo has completed thousands of cataract surgeries and provided training for hundreds of eye health care personnel in Africa.

Dr. Bo also served as principal investigator and lead researcher for the first ever Blindness and Vision Impairment study in Ghana, commissioned by Operation Eyesight. We developed a methodology and approach that is reliable and cost-effective, working with Ghana Health Service and other partners. The findings of this study helped us to determine the prevalence of blindness and vision impairment in Ghana, and plan and advocate for eye health in the country.

In partnership with the Ghana Health Service, we provided training for eye health staff and upgraded infrastructure and ophthalmic equipment at five partner hospitals.

We have also partnered with the Ghana Education Service and, thanks to support from the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Child Blindness Program, we have so far implemented school eye health projects at 30 schools across the country.

Learn more about our work in Ghana in 2022.