40 million – that’s the whopping number of cases existing worldwide. Unfortunately, such a big figure often gets neglected. Much to the surprise of many, blindness might be a concerning issue that some people might think cannot be cured. But it’s not true – at least when we are talking about blindness caused by cataracts.
Cataract is a condition that causes clouding of the eye lens. Consequently, impacting the vision. Unfortunately, despite being treatable, it remains untreated. There are lots of factors to blame. Starting from severity to limited access and poor health infrastructure.
While severity of the condition is a reasonable factor, limited access and poor infrastructure are not. No one should be blind because they don’t have what it takes to get the right treatment.
This is what Mr. Tej Kohli and Dr. Sanduk Ruit believe. That’s why, together with this shared perspective, they have given birth to a foundation that aims to help the blind in getting access to the treatment they deserve, without worrying about the funds. The foundation was founded in 2021 and is fully financed by billionaire philanthropist Mr. Tej Kohli (and his family).
Currently, Mr Tej Kohli and Dr. Sanduk Ruit’s foundation is serving a mission to screen 1 million people and cure half a million cases of blindness.
Here’s a in a nutshell are the details of the past and ongoing projects of the foundation.
– The foundation has set up a number outreach camps in economically backward countries such as Nepal, Rwanda, Tanzania, Lebanon and Syria, India, Indonesia, Bhutan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, North Korea, and Afghanistan,
– The foundation’s outreach camp has shown promising results in the poor suburbs of Nepal. It had screened 1387 patients and cured 312 cases of blindness in March 2021.
– In April 2021, in another region of Nepal, near the foothills of Mt. Everest in Nepal, over 178 patients were cured of blindness. The same microsurgical outreach camp in Solukhumbu screened 1,214 patients.
– Over 407 inmates of Banke District Prison were screened.
– The foundation has also collaborated with numerous hospitals and institutes in Nepal to provide high quality and accessible healthcare services to the blind for their treatment. These hospitals and medical institutes include Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology, Ramlal Golchha Eye Hospital, , Chhanda (Kalebabu) Narayani Eye Hospital, Fatehbal Eye Hospital, Surkhet Eye Hospital, Shree Janaki Eye Hospital, and Geta Eye Hospital. These surgeries have been carried out under the guidance of the very popular and skilled optometrist, also known as “God of Eye”, Dr. Sanduk Ruit.
