Himalayan Cataract Project E-News: November 2009 Greetings from the Himalayan Cataract Project. Here you’ll find news of our latest international eye care activities, including:
- HCP’s National Geographic Adventure feature article
- A cataract workshop in Ethiopia provides 598 sight-restoring surgeries
- USAID's FrontLines newspaper reports on the Tilganga Eye Center expansion in Kathmandu
- USAID announces $700,000 grant to develop a refractive surgery center at Tilganga
- International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness and USAID A2Z Child Blindness Program meetings
National Geographic Adventure magazine features HCP in December cover storyThe current issue of National Geographic Adventure magazine features Dr. Geoff Tabin on the cover and a full article on a January 2009 Himalayan Cataract Project cataract workshop in Mekele, Ethiopia.
The article was written by David Oliver Relin, author of the best-selling book “Three Cups of Tea,” and showcases photography by Ace Kvale. Along with local ophthalmologist Dr. Tilahun Kiros Meshesha, Dr. Tabin and Dr. Alan Crandall operate on 907 patients in Mekele. Relin weaves in HCP history while describing the high-volume workshop that took place in January 2009.
You’ll find a link to the full article on the Himalayan Cataract Project home page. The magazine will be available in stores starting November 24th.
Cataract Workshop in Ethiopia provides 598 sight-restoring surgeries | | 
Dr. Matt Oliva with a happy patient in Mekele, Ethiopia.
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In early November, HCP Board Member Dr. Matt Oliva and HCP Fellow Dr. Tilahun Kiros Meshesha oversaw a second eye care intervention in Mekele, Ethiopia. At this cataract workshop, 598 patients received sight-restoring surgery and Drs. Oliva and Meshesha also performed ten corneal transplants on bilaterally blind patients.
Earlier this year Dr. Meshesha trained as an HCP Fellow at the John A. Moran Eye Center in Salt Lake City and at the Medical Eye Center in Medford, Oregon. Dr. Meshesha is one of the highest volume cataract surgeons in Ethiopia, providing critical eye care in the Tigray Region of his home country. Visit the HCP News section to see images of this workshop. USAID's newspaper reports on Tilganga Eye Center expansion in NepalFrontLines, the newspaper published by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), shared with its global audience the news of our April 2009 opening of the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology in Kathmandu, Nepal. | 
In the background (with the blue-green awnings), the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology.
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USAID announces $700,000 grant to develop a refractive surgery center at TilgangaIn October, USAID’s Office of American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA) agreed to provide a $700,000 grant towards our $1.1 million program supporting the development of a refractive surgery center at Tilganga. The grant will support the renovation of the former Tilganga outpatient clinic for purpose of housing the new center, as well as support the procurement of some of the necessary commodities. The establishment of the refractive surgery center is critical for Tilganga’s cost recovery and is an important step in developing a successful model for addressing refractive error in the developing world. International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness and USAID A2Z Child Blindness Program meetings | | 
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A pediatric screening in Nepal.
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Co-Director Geoff Tabin, Board Member Hugh Taylor and CEO Job Heintz participated in the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) Council of Members Meeting at the beginning of October in Melbourne, Australia. The meeting brought together key decision makers from the international health and vision care sector and provided key opportunities to work with HCP program partners.
COO Emily Newick and CEO Job Heintz presented results from the first 18 months of the HCP’s Child Blindness project in Nepal at the USAID A2Z Child Blindness Program Partners Meeting in early November at the Academy for Educational Development in Washington, DC. Through this project to-date, 336,944 children have been screened for eye disease, 10,735 children have been treated for refractive error, 326 cataract surgeries have been performed and 625 other surgeries performed.
Download a PDF of the HCP's Child Blindness presentation from the
conference. 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. |
