Nanodropper is joining forces with Unite For Sight, an international nonprofit focused on providing quality eyecare to patients living in poverty, to launch a global health initiative aimed at providing better access to vision-saving medications in Ghana.

The initiative will allow the public to donate Nanodroppers to Unite For Sight partner clinics in Ghana at $9 per adaptor, a substantially lower price than retail value. The Nanodropper is an eyedrop bottle adaptor that easily twists on and immediately reduces most of the waste from a typical eyedrop, which are about five times too large (40 to 50 microliters) for the eye to absorb. 

A drop from a bottle using a Nanodropper adaptor reduces the drop size by about 70 percent (10 to 15 microliters, depending on the type of medication), eliminating waste but not affecting the dose of medication that actually makes it into the eye. They are sold online for $14.99 retail — for this global health initiative, Nanodroppers can be donated for $9 per adaptor.

“This global health effort aligns perfectly with our mission of providing better access to vision-saving medications,” says Mackenzie Andrews, Chief Commercial Officer of Nanodropper. “The patients in Ghana will be the first outside of the United States to benefit from the Nanodropper. We’re thrilled that Unite For Sight would provide us the chance to make an impact with their partners!”

Unite For Sight partners with local eye clinics in Ghana, Honduras, and India to identify community-specific barriers that impede effective eyecare delivery, and works with the local clinics to develop strategies to overcome the barriers through sustainable systems of care. To date, Unite For Sight has worked with local partner eye clinics to provide quality eye care to more than 2.9 million patients living in poverty who were otherwise unable to access or afford care. 

“The Ghana Program aims to serve individuals in remote rural villages, living in extreme poverty,” says Amy Davis, Executive Director of Unite For Sight. “This setting imposes both major financial and logistical barriers. By utilizing Nanodroppers in their eye clinics, the ophthalmologists can eliminate the waste of critical eyedrop medications and make every bottle last 3-4 times longer — meaning they can serve 3 times as many patients per bottle of medication.”

Unite For Sight’s leaders in Ghana are excited for the possibilities the Nanodropper might bring to their patient care.

“Many patients with chronic eye diseases such as glaucoma, dry eye syndrome, and others have to use eyedrops for a very long times, sometimes for the rest of their lives,” says Dr. James Clarke, ophthalmologist and Medical Director of Crystal Eye Clinic, Ghana and Unite For Sight’s Ghana Medical Director. “Many of these drops, especially for glaucoma, are very expensive and often out of financial reach for such patients. The drops are often not available to underprivileged patients who have to travel long distances to access eyecare and purchase their drops.”

Dr. Clarke says that often, most patients cannot purchase more than one bottle at a time, and the problem is compounded when patients with poor eyesight have to put in their own eyedrops. He estimates the average patient spills about 25 percent of the bottle just by missing their eye. This causes bottles to run out in less than the prescribed month, putting patients in a bind.

“Introducing the Nanodropper to these patients will ensure that the drop size is reduced, and therefore increase the duration of instillation into the eye. This will save them cost, require less trips and travel costs to refill medication, and also reduce the overall burden of treatment,” Dr. Clarke says. “The reduced financial and physical burden will motivate patients to use their drops and increase compliance. This translates into more glaucoma patients having their eye pressure controlled and reducing the risk of blindness.”

To make a donation or learn more about Nanodropper’s global health initiative with Unite For Sight, visit this link.