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Drs. Ruit and Tabin examine a boy in Bhutan. Photo: Michael Amendolia.

A Vision for Eliminating Blindness

The Himalayan Cataract Project’s top priority is to reach the greatest number of unserved blind people, with the highest quality care, at the lowest possible cost. HCP was founded in 1995. Since then it has become a leader in international health innovation in the developing world based on its unrivaled model in eye care.

The Himalayan Cataract Project (HCP)

  • Humanitarian – serving the greatest number of unserved blind people possible regardless of their ability to pay
  • High quality – treating with medical care comparable to western standards
  • Innovation – refining the best surgical techniques, efficient practices and training methods
  • Direct Impact – delivering on-site care and long-term care simultaneously
  • Affordability – sustaining a formula of cost containment that makes care possible for everyone
  • Replication – disseminating a proven model that can be taken anywhere to cure blindness

Eye Care Innovation Serves the Blind in the Developing World

The Himalayan Cataract Project thrives on the enduring passion of its founding directors, Dr. Sanduk Ruit and Dr. Geoffrey Tabin, ophthalmologists who dedicate their lives to eradicating unnecessary blindness. Their innovation and determination have made possible a life-altering cataract surgery for only $20 US which reaches the most needy patients in the world’s most remote places.

Learn more about who we are and what we do.

“In the Himalaya region, blindness is a death sentence. People long thought that as you grow old, your hair turns white, your eyes turn white and you die."
— HCP Co-director Dr. Geoff Tabin

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Watch a video of HCP's work in Ethiopia


Change a Life for $20

For just $20, you can radically improve a human life through the gift of sight-restoring cataract surgery.

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