Patients attend a prescreening clinic at our new primary eye center in Chautara, Sindhupalchok.

Primary Eye Centers

The HCP reaches the underserved peoples of the Himalaya by building, equipping, staffing, and mentoring a network of remote primary eye care clinics. Primary eye care clinics are staffed by ophthalmic assistants, and are centers for basic eye care. These facilities perform numerous essential functions in the delivery of eye care in remote regions, including:

• Providing diagnosis, treatments, and referrals to local inhabitants;
• Outreach, education, and screening activities in local schools and community centers;
• Assistance in pre-screening and operation of surgical eye camps;
• Recruitment of local inhabitants for training as assistants and technicians;
• Providing assistance in executing community health initiatives.

By taking advantage of modern communication technologies, such as telemedicine and wireless internet access, each hospital will be fully able to diagnose, treat, and refer any patient it encounters. An additional layer of connectedness is provided by a fleet of mobile clinics. These vehicles are outfitted with basic eye care equipment. Drivers are ophthalmic assistants who can conduct on-site screening and referral operations.

In 2002, the HCP built seven primary eye clinics in locations including Phaplu, Ramechap, Dhading, Manthali, and Hetauda in Nepal. In 2003, three additional clinics were built in Sindhupalchok and Solukhumbu, Nepal and in Kalimpong, India. The HCP is currently supporting the two to three ophthalmic assistants that run each center, but the goal is to make each clinic self-sustaining by charging fees for registration and medication on an ability-to-pay basis. We plan to start building nine more primary eye clinics, in places such as Khotang, Sankhuwasabha, and Nuwakot in Nepal, in the Amdo region of China, and in Darjeeling, India. In addition, we have opened a public health primary ophthalmology coordination center in Kathmandu, which will help us to run and to expand our seven primary eye care centers in Nepal and to organize eye camps.