An eye doctor with a bold mission to bring clear sight to millions of people around the world is celebrating a meteoric expansion of his project across Asia and Africa.

Millions of people across the globe suffer from treatable eyesight problems, but many live in hard-to-reach communities, where modern medicine is hard to access. Supported by the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative, British ophthalmologist Andrew Bastawrous founded Peek Vision, providing eye-testing software and data insights to local eye care partners treating rural communities. Today, Peek Vision is celebrating the milestone of 10 million people screened by partners using its tools, following a successful rollout across Africa and Asia. Along with making huge strides in India, thanks to Rolex’s support, Bastawrous’ goal is to roll out Peek across the entirety of Nepal by the end of 2028. “The programme is now at a really promising stage in Nepal,” he says. “We’ve built the foundations there for something really promising in the next few years.”

“When Rolex first came to see our work, we were working in one country. We’re now working in 12 countries. We were reaching around 10,000 people a year. We’re now reaching 5 million people a year.” – Andrew Bastawrous, British ophthalmologist and founder of Peek Vision

Bastawrous is dedicated to sharing practical science and technology globally for the betterment of humanity. “It’s almost indescribable, the feeling of seeing someone struggle and being able to do something to reduce that suffering,” he explains. “It fuels you to continue doing more. I feel hugely grateful that I get to do work that can transform people’s lives by restoring their sight.”

The inspiration to improve access to eye care worldwide began when Bastawrous was a schoolboy in the UK, where he struggled to keep up with his fellow students because he was unable to see the whiteboard. A life-changing eye test at the age of 12 revealed that he was severely short-sighted, and he was prescribed a pair of glasses. Describing the appointment as a “transformative experience”, Bastawrous says: “I just remember looking up and seeing the trees past the car park, and they were suddenly this really vivid green, and I could see leaves on them. Until that point, I’d just seen these green, amorphous blobs.” 

A holiday to his parents’ homeland of Egypt that same summer led him to realize that not everyone has equal access to eye care. It was an experience that would pave the way for Bastawrous’ future career, igniting a desire in him to change the accessibility of eye health services around the globe. His new focus saw him through medical training as an eye surgeon and into Britain’s National Health Service (NHS). In 2011, after several years working as an ophthalmologist, he left the NHS and moved to Kenya to pursue his dreams of bringing clear vision to underserved communities. 

It was in Kenya that he realized his main challenge: access. Outside the main cities, villages lacked roads and medical services, but what communities did have were mobile phones.

To help these communities, in 2012 Bastawrous came up with the idea that would become Peek Vision, and received a Rolex Award four years later which helped change the entire scope of the project. Following the Rolex Award, the ophthalmologist and his team were able to launch the Peek, smartphone-based app that enables non-specialists to check eyesight as accurately as conventional vision tests. This easy-to-use technology is helping to identify people with vision problems and connect them to vital services. The system can be used in the field by trained operatives and volunteers, which means more people are screened and detected. “Being part of Rolex’s Perpetual Planet Initiative has helped us to really push what we think we can achieve,” says Bastawrous. “I feel it’s our role within Peek Vision to try and help us all see those who are unseen.”

“In 2016, I won a Rolex Award. That support at such an early stage helped raise the profile of the work that we’re doing, and Rolex has continued to follow us as the Peek Vision programme has expanded.” – Andrew Bastawrous, British ophthalmologist and founder of Peek Vision

Today, over 250,000 people per month receive the mobile-phone-based eye examination and the project has expanded into multiple locations across Africa and Asia. This meteoric expansion is epitomized by the success of the programme in India. Whilst overseeing the screening of patients in Mohammadi, a familiar story caught Bastawrous’ attention. Prem Kumar, a 14-year-old schoolboy who lives with his five siblings in a small village in the Shahjahanpur district of northern India, had stopped attending school because he was struggling, largely due to his poor vision. 

He had also stopped playing cricket, his favourite sport, and had begun working on his father’s farm after feeling disconnected from his friends. Following a simple eye test, it was discovered that Kumar was very short-sighted, just like Bastawrous. After being referred to a Vision Center run by Dr Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital, a Peek Vision partner, Kumar received his first pair of glasses, changing life as he knew it. “Being able to see Prem after getting his sight back was just heart-warming,” reflects Bastawrous. “He was doing what he loved again, and he was back in school. It made me feel so happy, knowing that he’s one of many people for whom simple interventions can change lives.” 

ABOUT THE PERPETUAL PLANET INITIATIVE
For nearly a century, Rolex has supported pioneering explorers pushing back the boundaries of human endeavour. The company has moved from championing exploration for the sake of discovery to protecting the planet, committing for the long term to support individuals and organizations using science to understand and devise solutions to today’s environmental challenges. 

This engagement was reinforced with the launch of the Perpetual Planet Initiative in 2019, which initially focused on the Rolex Awards for Enterprise, as well as long-standing partnerships with Mission Blue and National Geographic Society. The initiative now has more than 20 other partnerships in an expanding portfolio. They include, for example, Cristina Mittermeier and Paul Nicklen, Rewilding Argentina and Rewilding Chile, offspring organizations of Tompkins Conservation, the Under The Pole expeditions, the Monaco Blue Initiative, and Coral Gardeners. 

Rolex also supports organizations and initiatives fostering the next generations of explorers, scientists and conservationists through scholarships and grants, such as The Rolex Explorers Club Grants.