The mission of Volunteer Optometric Services of Humanity of the Delaware Valley (VOSH/DelVal) is to provide eye care and glasses to the materially poor in developing countries through short term mission trips and the training of local health care providers.

THE NEED

It is now recognized that the leading cause
of preventable blindness worldwide is
uncorrected refractive error—simply the
need for glasses. This is a major public
health issue

 that impacts individuals, their
families and communities, and is a
contributing cause of poverty in the
developing world. It is estimated that it
affects 253 million people and that one
half of the global economic impact of
avoidable blindness and impaired vision
($42 Billion US annually) is due to the
need for glasses. Global estimates by the
World Health Organization in 2006 show 153 million people who are unable to do normal activities of daily living due to the need for glasses for distance, and another 150 million people are unable to perform tasks at near because they do not have access to a pair of simple reading glasses. An estimated 13 million children worldwide are “blind” or visually impaired simply because they have not had an eye exam or glasses. Correctable eye disease is responsible for loss of sight in about 77 million people.