Kigali, Rwanda (18 July, 2025) – 4:44 PM, the Flying Eye Hospital lands in Rwanda for the first time in Orbis history for a two-week training project.
For the first time, Orbis International has brought its iconic Flying Eye Hospital to Rwanda to provide intensive training to local eye care professionals—marking a major milestone in the country’s efforts to expand access to quality eye health services.
The two-week program, taking place from this Monday July 21st to August 1st, involves in-person, hands-on training for Rwandan ophthalmologists, nurses, anesthesiologists, and biomedical engineers.
Training is conducted both on board the Flying Eye Hospital—currently stationed at Kigali International Airport—and at Kibagabaga Hospital, in collaboration with the Rwanda International Institute of Ophthalmology (RIIO).
The training session cover cataract, strabismus, oculoplastics, medical retina, and includes modules in anesthesia, nursing, and biomedical engineering.
Professionals are also undergoing simulation-based training—a method likened to flight simulators for pilots—allowing them to build confidence before performing real surgeries.
Orbis is also introducing trainees to virtual reality tools for cataract surgery, one of the most common procedures in low-resource settings.
At the end of the project, a portable VR device co-developed by Orbis will be donated to RIIO to support ongoing skills development.
“This initiative supports Rwanda’s national eye health priorities,” said Orbis representatives, highlighting that cataracts remain the leading cause of blindness in Rwanda, despite being treatable with a brief surgical procedure.
RIO Founding Director, Professor Chiku Mathenge says when the Orbis comes into a country what they’re looking to do is support where they are asked to support and in the case of Rwanda, it’s to help people with eye conditions that are difficult to treat, sometimes because the expertise is not available or the resources needed to treat are not available.
“We’ll be looking at people with conditions where you need plastic surgery around the eye. We’re not talking about cosmetic plastic surgery but people who have tumors and other things that destroy the way their eyes look,” Mathenge said.
Eye Care in Rwanda: A Challenge and an Opportunity:
Rwanda currently has just 30 ophthalmologists serving a population of 13 million—only 2 per million, compared to 52 per million in the U.S. Of the country’s 42 district hospitals, only 7 have a full-time ophthalmologist on staff.
Access to cataract surgery exists mostly at referral hospitals, but 30% of patients do not receive care due to long travel distances. Furthermore, only 57% of the population is aware of available eye care services at local health centers.
By expanding the reach and skill set of local professionals, the project aims to reduce these disparities—particularly in rural areas—and ensure more Rwandans benefit from timely diagnosis and treatment.
A Decade-Long Partnership for Long-Term Impact:
Kigali, Rwanda (18 July, 2025) – The Flying Eye Hospital lands in Rwanda for the first time in Orbis history for a two-week training project.
This project is the latest step in a nearly 10-year partnership between Orbis and RIIO, aimed at strengthening Rwanda’s eye care workforce and establishing RIIO as a regional training hub.
In addition to in-person training, Orbis has been supporting Rwanda through Cybersight, its virtual telemedicine and e-learning platform, and Cybersight AI, which enables real-time diabetic retinopathy screening.
Since 2021, Orbis and RIIO have used this technology in diabetes clinics around Kigali, with results showing that AI-powered diagnosis increases timely treatment uptake.
The Flying Eye Hospital’s visit marks Rwanda as the 84th country to benefit from Orbis’s in-person training, part of a global mission that has reached 97 countries physically and over 200 countries and territories virtually.
Through continued collaboration, Orbis and RIIO are working not only to transform eye care in Rwanda but to extend knowledge, skills, and innovation across the African continent—ensuring that sight-saving care becomes accessible to all.
Mathenge said that to bring the plane to Rwanda is a big commitment that costs a lot of money and a lot of resources and they are very honored actually that Obis accepted the invitation to Rwanda.
Photo credit: @Orbisintl
Kigali, Rwanda (18 July, 2025) – The Flying Eye Hospital lands in Rwanda for the first time in Orbis history for a two-week training project.
