Peek Vision, a social enterprise and close partner of the International Centre for Eye Health, has reached one million people with an eye condition treated through their system.

Peek started as a PhD project by ICEH Professor Andrew Bastawrous in 2012, eventually spinning out as a separate social enterprise and charity in 2015.

While working in a remote area in Kenya, Prof. Bastawrous noticed the challenges of a lack of equipment and trained personnel for testing vision problems. His response was a clinically validated smartphone app to test visual acuity that could be used by anyone, even in the hardest to reach areas of the world.

The acuity app was successful, and has since developed into a software system that can track patient journeys from screening to diagnosis, treatment and follow-up.

Working with partners around the world, Peek began to be integrated into existing eye care programmes, providing the technology to find and treat people with eye conditions. It took a decade to screen the first million people (spring 2022), and just six months to screen the next million (autumn 2022).

Roughly ten per cent of people screened using the system require further eye care or follow-up, and in October 2024 Peek achieved one million people worldwide connected to care. With Peek now embedded across more than 60 programmes in 14 countries worldwide, this number is sure to increase rapidly, meaning millions more people avoiding sight loss who may otherwise have been missed.

ICEH and Peek are still closely connected, with several staff members having joint positions between them. All of Peek’s products and services are validated through trials, many of which are collaborations with ICEH.

Congratulations to Peek Vision!

Find out more about Peek here.