Project details
Outreach Microsurgical Eye Camp, Sindhu
Nepal
, RUN BY:
The Fred Hollows Foundation
| STATUS:
COMPLETED
Lakshime Pande, 80 years old, receives post-operative check at Dhading Community Eye Centre, Nepal. (Photo courtesy of Jon Reid/Sydney Morning Herald)
AUD 24,485
Raised from 10,061 people
This project will fund an Outreach Microsurgical Eye Camp where patients living in remote areas of Sindhu district, Nepal will have access to screening and surgical procedures, plus support for the Sindhu Community Eye Centre.
Project costs include:
-
Fund an Outreach Microsurgical Eye Centre organised by the Sindhu
CEC (including medical equipment & supplies, salaries, travel,
catering, accommodation)
- Contribute to the annual cost of running the Sindhu Community Eye
Centre. Costs include provision of medicines, office equipment,
salaries (2 ophthalmic nurses and one general assistant), travel and
maintenance
Project objective:
To fund an Outreach Microsurgical Eye Camp (OMEC) organised by the Sindhu Community Eye
Centre, which provides eye health
services to some of the most remote communities of Nepal. The OMEC is
scheduled to take place in September 2009. In 2008 alone, the Sindhu CEC helped 4,295 patients.
Funding will also contribute to the costs associated with running the
Sindhu Community Eye Centre which itself provides quality and
affordable eye care services to people of the district.
Project outcome:
The Fred Hollows Foundation will provide quality eye care to hundreds of rural poor in the Sindhu District – people who are suffering from avoidable blindness conditions but have no access to basic eye care facilities. These people, old and young, will be able to return to work or school once their sight has been restored.
Project Location:
Sindhu district is one of 75 districts in Nepal and is situated in central Nepal. Sindhu is located south-west of Kathmandu and is home to around 280,000 people, most of whom are farmers.
Background & Project Partners:
The Fred Hollows Foundation has sustained its commitment to Nepal since the Tilganga Eye Centre was opened in 1994. It was the first outpatient cataract surgery centre in Nepal and has expanded its capacity and services ever since.
Over the past 15 years, the partnership between The Fred Hollows Foundation and Tilganga has led to:
- Over 1.5 million people being screened and over 74,000 sight restoring operations being performed in Nepal
- 6 community centres have been established in remote parts of Nepal: Dhading, Nuwakot, Rasuwa, Sindhu, Rolpa and Okhaldhunga
- At least 10 outreach clinics are run by Tilganga each year
- The Intraocular Lens factory at Tilganga is now a self-sufficient business and has manufactured over 3 million lenses, exporting to over 50 countries worldwide
- 139 surgeons and 73 paramedical staff have been trained at Tilganga
But our work is far from complete and only a sustained commitment will overcome the challenges we face. In Nepal, it is estimated:
- 460,000 people have low vision
- 210,000 people are blind
- 25,000 people become blind each year
- Approx 150,000 cases of blindness are due to cataract
The Government of Nepal recognises the significance of Community Eye Centres and has committed to serving each district of Nepal with a CEC by the year 2020.