International Resources for the Improvement of Sight is a small, independent, charity, founded in 1996 by Michele Claudel and John Stewart.[1] It specializes in prevention of blindness and restoration of sight. The organization's name is commonly abbreviated IRIS, but later also IRIS ASIA as a result of the organization's geographical focus (see below).[2]
| Founder(s) | Michele Claudel, John Stewart |
|---|---|
| Type | Charity |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Location | Switzerland |
| Origins | France, US, UK |
| Key people | Roger Biggs (Chief Executive), John Sandford-Smith, Andy Richards (Trustees) |
| Area served | 4 countries |
| Focus | Prevention of blindness and restoration of sight |
| Website | http://www.irisasia.org |
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IRIS was established in response to eye care needs identified amongst the poor in Cambodia. Over the years, financial support has been extended to eye care development programs in Nepal, Lao PDR and Sri Lanka and to programs administered by other charities in Northern India and border camps in Thailand.[3] The organization is a part of VISION 2020, a global initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), for the elimination of avoidable blindness.[4] IRIS also partners with the "Teaching Eye Surgery Foundation".[5]
IRIS is registered as a charity in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, France and the United States. The organization employs (2009) five permanent staff (chief executive, finance officer, program manager, program officer, ophthalmic nurse).[6] IRIS programs are partly funded by institutions and private donations. Dark & Light Blind Care (the Netherlands), Kadoorie Charitable Foundations (Hong Kong), Pro Victimis Foundation, Frères des nos Frères and the Parthenon Trust, all based in Switzerland, are some examples of major institutional donors (2006-2009).[7][8][9][10]
During the period 1996-2009, IRIS-funded programs have provided 196,000 people with eye examinations, given free spectacles to 24,500 people and restored the sight of 42,000 people, with cataracts or other blinding conditions.[11] In Cambodia, IRIS funds the work of eye clinics in five provinces, stages regular eye camps in provinces that remain without eye care facilities and provide eye screening, refraction and surgery for cyclo drivers of Phnom Penh.[12] In Nepal, IRIS supports cataract and other surgeries carried out by the IRIS-Nepal Micro Surgical Mobile Eye Camp Project in remote areas.[13] In 2005, IRIS opened an eye clinic in the Lao PDR's Xaignbouri province. The same year the organization ran a campaign to raise awareness of eye care issues amongst secondary school children and their families in Vientiane and donated a second-hand ambulance which was converted into a mobile unit and is used to perform outreach cataract surgery in remote areas.[14] In Sri Lanka, IRIS equips new eye clinics and strengthens existing ones, provides primary eye care training for staff working on tea plantations, conducts eye screening, provides glasses free-of-charge and subsidises the cost of cataract surgery for poor people.[15]