Milestone Of 30,000 Cures Passed By NGO That Is Tackling Blindness In The Developing World
Tuesday 21 February, 2023LONDON: On the day that Dr SandukRuit is being awarded the Isa Award for Services To Humanity by the Kingdom Of Bahrain, the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation, an NGO co-founded by Dr Ruit that is headquartered in London and Kathmandu, is also celebrating passing the milestone of curing 30,000 people of untreated cataract blindness within impoverished and marginalised communities in Nepal, Bhutan and Ghana.
The NGO is targeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of ending extreme poverty by making large-scale grassroots surgical interventions that enable cured patients and their families to return to education and to social and economic activity. 90% of the world's blind reside in low-income communities within the developing world.
The 30,000th patient was 60-year-old Belmati, who was cured in the Bahjang District, a remote and under-resourced region of Nepal where the population lacks access to basic healthcare and education. Belmati was carried by her husband on his back for over two hours to reach a microsurgical outreach camp where she joined 252 patients who underwent surgery to cure cataract blindness. All 252 left the next day able to see again.
Whilst in the Bahjang District, teams from the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation were also able to re-visit sisters Kunti, aged 7, and Reshma aged 13, who were cured of blindness by the NGO in December 2021. Having previously dropped out, both young girls had returned to school. Their mother, who had previously been a full-time-carer for her blind daughters, had been able to return to work and to earn a living to keep her family fed and warm.
To mark the milestone of 30,000 people cured, the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation has released a new mini-documentary created by Nepalese media personality and influencer Sahana Bajracharya, which is available to view at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Kl7jE8UHDE
Founded by pre-eminent ophthalmologist Dr SandukRuit and philanthropist Tej Kohli, the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation has been diligently working to cure untreated cataract blindness since March 2021. Supported by partners including the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology the Himalayan Cataract Project, and the Fred Hollows Foundation, the NGO is currently expanding across Asia and Africa.
Tej Kohli, co-founder of the Tej Kohli &Ruit Foundation, said:
“Making direct and large-scale interventions to cure untreated blindness is the fastest way to combat extreme poverty, with some studies suggesting a 1,500% socio-economic return on the cost of surgery during the first postoperative year. This problem is vast. My hope is that the example being set by our NGO and our delivery partners will mean that others with even greater resources will join us in our mission to cure as many as 500,000 people by 2030.”
For more information about the Tej Kohli &Ruit Foundation visit:
Website: www.tejkohliruit.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tejkohliruit/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tej-kohli-ruit-foundation/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tejkohliruitfoundation
Medium: https://tejkohliruitfoundation.medium.com/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tkrfoundation
The Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation is a restricted fund operating under the auspices of Prism The Gift Fund, registered UK charity number 1099682.
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