“When a blind person is brought on the back, carried all the way about 2 to 3 days journey and then 1 operate on him and the next day he sees the light - and he puts his hands to me in utter gratitude...I can take that as the most enduring thing 1 can expect in my life.”
Dr Nawang Tenzing, Bhutan
History
Dr Sanduk Ruit, Medical Director, Tilganga Eye Centre was invited by the late Fred Hollows to train with him at Sydney Prince of Wales Hospital in 1986. The partnership that was forged in that year would revolutionise the way people deal with cataract blindness in developing countries. A low-cost high-volume lens implant surgery technique was developed enabling surgeons to perform lens implantation with simplicity and few resources.
The Tilganga Eye Centre provides cataract treatment and trains doctors in the treatment techniques. An important component to the Centre’s provision of treatment is its remote area Eye Camps. These camps have changed the lives of many people and provided training to over 100 surgeons and 53 paramedics from Eye Hospitals in Nepal and surrounding regions.
The Rotary Club of Rose Bay has supported Four Eye Camps
The first was at Duhabi near Biratnagar, a small country town in Terai near the Indian Border in the Eastern part of Nepal. Two specialists and three other doctors in training performed 773 operations (395 male and 378 female) with 2,300 outpatient treatments during the five-day period.
· The second Eye Camp was at the village of Tupche, Trisuli where two surgeons performed 261 lens transplants with 1,260 outpatient treatments
· The third Eye Camp took place at Dhankuta where three surgeons (including the first surgeon to attend from South America) conducted 236 lens transplants and 1,450 outpatient treatments.
· The fourth Eye Camp, was held at Phaplu, Solu, a very remote area with no roads, where one surgeon and two trainee Ophthalmic Assistants conducted 901 screenings 106 lens transplants and 9 other operations,
Help us to help others see the future more clearly
