Sheba Global Ophthalmology: Transforming Eye Care through Collaboration

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least 2 billion people suffer from vision impairment, with almost half of them affected by conditions that could have been prevented or improved by treatment. It is the lack of access to eye care and specialists that has contributed to these staggering numbers and has resulted in a collective calling of leading medical organizations around the world to address this problem with expertise, training and research.

In the context of this global concern, Sheba Medical Center is fostering partnerships and collaborations, launching humanitarian missions to distant regions, and bringing together hundreds of world-class doctors to work toward better eye health on a global scale.

Sheba Global Ophthalmology’s Role and Impact

For years, Sheba has contributed to numerous missions worldwide and medical research in ophthalmology, taking major strides in elevating eye care with the help of the Sheba Global Ophthalmology (SGO) initiative. The initiative was founded by Prof. Ido Didi Fabian, an ophthalmologist and world-renowned expert in ocular oncology, repeatedly awarded for his outstanding contributions to the field.

SGO focuses on humanitarian outreach and educational programs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to advance accessibility and equity in eye care, international advocacy, international ophthalmological collaborations, innovative research, and technological innovation. Across the globe, SGO continuously makes advancements in addressing diverse eye health problems through collaborative efforts with medical organizations that share the same ethos of improving eye health.

Sheba Global Ophthalmology and the Heron Foundation Join Forces to Enhance Eye Care in Rwanda

Making a difference in the lives of children in need of medical care, Sheba and the Heron Foundation joined hands in making an unparalleled shift toward a brighter and more colorful future for Rwandan youth in Kibungo. The primary aim of the mission to Rwanda was to address the pressing medical care deficit at its root, ensuring that local teams have the necessary knowledge to tackle eye health problems in the region. United by a shared vision of providing essential healthcare in underserved communities, SGO and the Heron Foundation screened and treated 8,000 Rwandan school children. In addition to providing direct care, the collaborative work involved training local optometrists and ophthalmologists. SGO and the Heron Foundation invested in long-term solutions to empower Kibungo’s medical teams to improve the livelihoods of their patients with newly acquired, practical knowledge independently. Medical professionals from Kibungo were taught to use handheld and portable equipment suitable for rural settings, along with traditional non-automated methods.

The success of the project and its long-term impact attests to Sheba’s continuous dedication to improving local healthcare in regions where the need is the greatest, ensuring that every single effort will have its resonance for many years to come. Such collaborative efforts are not an isolated case, learn more about Sheba’s global initiatives that aim to transform global healthcare.

Sheba’s SGO Hosts a Multidisciplinary Session on Retinoblastoma with over 100 Doctors from Across the World

Led by the powerful, transformative objective of collaborating with healthcare professionals to create a lasting positive change toward improved ophthalmological care, Sheba Global Ophthalmology has brought together world-class doctors to exchange invaluable knowledge and experience in solving complex cases of retinoblastoma. In June 2024, Sheba Medical Center hosted the inaugural Clinical-Radiological-Pathological Retinoblastoma-NET Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) session. Led by Prof. Didi Fabian, the event brought together nearly 100 specialist physicians from all over the world to join hands in advancing global eye health. The goal of the event was to enhance education, foster collaborative efforts, and explore innovative treatment approaches. 

The session featured a discussion of complex retinoblastoma cases, where participants demonstrated the power of international collaboration in addressing challenging medical cases. Among these was the case presented by Prof. Fabian and his colleagues which involved a 3-year-old girl with unilateral leukocoria and complex retinoblastoma, which required coordinated expertise from various specialists at Sheba. The session underscored the importance of integrating diverse medical perspectives to achieve optimal patient outcomes. The flourishing dialogue among physicians from diverse specialties followed the case presentations, enriching perspectives and promoting innovative approaches to retinoblastoma treatment.

Sheba’s Mission to Improve Global Healthcare

Sheba’s initiative of forming meaningful, resonant, and mutually beneficial relationships aims most and foremost to bring global healthcare to new heights and share invaluable medical knowledge with like-minded healthcare professionals for more successful patient outcomes. Sheba regularly propagates, organizes, and leads academic, educational, clinical, and humanitarian collaborations to bring forth medical innovations, enable learning, exchange expertise, treat patients, and advance medical research to push the boundaries in patient care. The shift toward more sustainable, patient-centric solutions must come as the result of the collective efforts of progressive medical teams.