A London surgeon who swapped his daily commute for the bustle of India has been helping to save sight in Kolkata.

John Brookes, a consultant ophthalmic surgeon at London Medical in Marylebone, was a medical volunteer for ORBIS , an international sight saving charity.

While in India he taught local doctors vital skills for treating ophthalmic conditions that are common to the area and have robbed the community of a brighter future.

John said: "I have volunteered in India six times and was pleased with the prospect of returning. Interestingly, my first case was a six year old girl whose mother had been treated by ORBIS in 1993. She has done outstandingly well and it was fantastic to see a true success story.

"Her daughters operation was a routine glaucoma procedure and progressed without complications. It was lovely to know the charity had helped to two generations from one family and to be a part of that.

"I very much enjoy volunteering with ORBIS and find it a very worthy charity, primarily due to the fact that their aim is to teach, train and educate the local ophthalmologists, anaesthetists and nurses in order to equip these teams to better manage eye conditions prevalent in their community."

Some 39 million people in the world are blind but 80% could be treated or cured. 90% of these people are in developing countries where eye care facilities are often limited. World Sight Day next Thursday will aim to raise awareness of the issues surrounding blindness.

Simple, cheap and quick operations like that of removing a cataract can save a person from losing their livelihood, independence and stop them becoming a burden to their family. But the skill and equipment needed to help are often lacking in the places where they are most at need. ORBIS works tirelessly to change this situation and over the years has helped to further educate 262,000 medical professionals.

John volunteered with the ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital, a plane which hosts a fully equipped operating theatre and laser suite, with dedicated teaching facilities on-board. Through their missions and training, ORBIS has to date helped to provide 23 million treatments in 92 countries.

He has been involved with the charity for three years, having previously travelled to Mongolia and China on similar missions.