Himalayan Cataract Project E-News: August 2011Here you will find news on the latest international eye care activities from the Himalayan Cataract Project (HCP). This month’s newsletter includes summaries on the following:
- Sight restoration in Tanzania
- Jakarta Post features Dr. Sanduk Ruit’s work in Indonesia
- HCP International Fellow provides sight in Kenya
- Ethiopian ophthalmologist receives SICS training at Tilganga
- San Francisco Marathon runners raise over $11,000 for HCP
- Board members speak at international ophthalmology symposium
- Dr. Tabin featured in video from Aspen’s Plum TV
Preliminary update from TanzaniaCo-Director Dr. Geoff Tabin is just returning from Tanzania where he worked with the UN Millennium Villages Project to provide eye care in the Tabora Region of Tanzania. Dr. Tabin was joined by colleague Dr. Alan Crandall of the Moran Eye Center, a team from the ophthalmology department at Weill Cornell Medical College including Drs. Don D'Amico, Paul Chan and Grace Sun, two ophthalmic assistants from Tilganga in Nepal, a local cataract surgeon and assistant from the Kiguma Development Foundation, and a resident from Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) in Moshi, Tanzania.
According to the preliminary update from Dr. Tabin, approximately 400 surgeries were provided through the intervention. Almost all of the patients were totally blind prior to the surgical workshop, and as such, there was considerable joy during the post-operative exams. We will provide a full update with photos in the next newsletter and on our website. Jakarta Post features Dr. Sanduk Ruit’s work in Indonesia | | 
Click to read the newspaper article.
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The Jakarta Post featured an article about HCP Co-Director Dr. Sanduk Ruit’s work in Indonesia. In June, Dr. Ruit performed nearly 800 cataract surgeries in North Sumatra. Dr. Ruit plans to provide surgical training for 50 physicians in Indonesia enabling them to provide sutureless cataract surgery for patients throughout the country.
“Some 48 percent of blindness in the world is due to cataracts, especially resulting from negligence and the inability to afford surgery. Cataract blindness can in fact be cured but there are patients who can’t undergo surgery for financial reasons,” Dr. Ruit told the reporter moments before an eye operation at Bukit Barisan Hospital.
Although Dr. Ruit has earned much recognition for his sight-restoring work, he says that it is all part of his humanitarian mission. “I don’t want to do all this work for politics, it’s solely for humanitarian purposes,” he told the newspaper.
To read the entire article, follow this link. HCP International Fellow provides sight in Kenya | | 
Dr. Matt Bujak in Kenya. Click to go to the video.
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At the beginning of July, HCP International Fellow Dr. Matt Bujak screened approximately 500 patients and provided 90 surgeries in the Nyanza Province of Kenya. The outreach effort was organized by the Sabatia Eye Hospital, the largest eye hospital in Western Kenya, and supported by CBM Kenya.
Dr. Matt Bujak is a Toronto-based ophthalmologist who has traveled worldwide as part of an international fellowship supported by the HCP. The Toronto Star followed Dr. Bujak in Kenya and documented his work with a video which can be viewed here on the HCP website. Ethiopian ophthalmologist receives SICS training at TilgangaDr. Alemayehu Woldeyes Tefera of the Ras Desta Damtew M. Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, recently completed Sutureless Cataract Surgery (SICS) training at Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology in Kathmandu, Nepal.
“Thank you very much to the HCP. I have completed my SICS training at Tilganga. It was a great experience and I gained many skills and knowledge from renowned ophthalmic surgeons in Nepal. I hope and wish to bring some changes to eye care services in my country. I would like also to thank you for the donation of IOLs for Ethiopia.” –Dr. Alemayehu Woldeyes Tefera San Francisco Marathon runners raise more than $11,000 for HCPThe Himalayan Cataract Project was well represented at the San Francisco Marathon on Sunday, July 31st. Nine runners volunteered to raise more than $11,000 to support our effort to alleviate unnecessary blindness.
The HCP team included Geoff Tabin, Matt Oliva, Huck Holz, Job Heintz, Emily Newick, Pam Clapp and Emilia DeMarchis. HCP board and staff send their heart-felt appreciation to Pratik, Karnika, Mike, Gillian, Abbey, Lisa, Oliver, Joshua and Swikrit, and to all who made donations!
Follow this link to see a slideshow of images.
Board members speak at international ophthalmology symposiumHCP Board Members Drs. Matt Oliva, Geoff Tabin and Hugh Taylor were all featured speakers at the Casey Eye Institute’s symposium Exploring Public Health Challenges and Solutions in International Ophthalmology at the end of July in Portland, Oregon.
Seen in the group photo, from left to right: Hugh Taylor, Geoff Tabin, Devin Gattey (Casey Eye Institute), Julie Jacobson (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), Matt Oliva, David Wilson (Casey), Srinivasan Aravind (Aravind Eye Hospital) and Kevin Winthrop (Casey). Dr. Tabin featured in video from Aspen’s Plum TV | | 
Dr. Geoff Tabin. Click to go to the video.
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A four-minute video produced by Plum TV of Aspen, Colorado, is now available for viewing and it features an interview of HCP Co-Director Dr. Geoff Tabin mixed with images from the field. The video earned a regional Emmy for being an exceptional Cultural Program Feature produced in the Heartland Region.
Follow this link to view the video on the HCP website.
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Children are screened in the Himalaya.
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The Himalayan Cataract Project works to eradicate preventable and curable blindness through high quality ophthalmic care, education and the establishment of a world-class eye care infrastructure.
Please visit our Web site at www.cureblindness.org to keep up with the latest HCP news. There you will also find information on HCP’s finances, its founders, staff and board members, and ways that you can give the gift of sight.
Remember, through the Himalayan Cataract Project it takes a gift of only $20 to provide life-changing cataract surgery to someone struggling with blindness in the developing world. |
