One of the underreported tragedies of our time is that nearly 90% of the world’s blind live in low-income countries where poverty and blindness perpetuate in a descending cycle

One of the underreported tragedies of our time is that nearly 90% of the world’s blind live in low-income countries where poverty and blindness perpetuate in a descending cycle

Growing up, Soorya Mani Rai did not have access to education — there wasn’t a local school in her area, and her parents could not afford to send her away to study. But as it is in the hills of Nepal, there is plenty to do — even for a growing child.

63 year old Chandrawati Harijan lives in Mahilwar, Lumbini — 15 minutes west of Maya Devi Temple, the exact place where Lord Buddha was born more than 2500 years ago.

When Murathi Parsi of the Kapilavastu District of Nepal went blind, surgery was out of reach. Despite living only one hour away from an eye hospital, the family simply did not have the USD $70 needed for her surgery.

For Shri Mani Rai, her earliest memory is of flowers, beautiful and colourful flowers at her childhood home in Solukhumbu in the foothills of Mount Everest. At the age of sixteen, she was married, and the couple moved to Pelmang Rural Municipality. There, they started a family.

In medical terms, Tila Maya Rai is blind. Suffering from cataracts in both of her eyes, her vision is extremely blurred. It was only a matter of time that her cataracts would mature, making her completely blind.

In Solukhumbu, ahead of a high-volume cataract outreach surgery camp by the Tej Kohli and Ruit Foundation, eye health personnel are making sure that no cataract patient will miss out on the opportunity of receiving free cataract surgery.

Cataracts are usually thought to affect older people, but children can also develop them — take, for example, the story of 14-year-old Bipana Rai from Solukhumbu in Nepal, who was born visually impaired due to congenital cataracts…

London philanthropist Tej Kohli is funding large-scale pioneering research and treatment programs for conditions that cause sight loss…

Murathi Parsi experienced the first signs of cataracts when she had a headache and collapsed while working in a Nepalese field almost three years ago. “In the days that passed I remember losing my sight rapidly,” she says. At her lowest point, she could only make out hazy figures moving around her.

In March 2021 I launched the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation to take low-cost cataract surgeries out into poor and remote communities in Nepal, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Myanmar, India and China. Working with my co-founder Dr Sanduk Ruit, I hope to cure 300,000 of cataract blindness by 2026.

When Murathi Parsi of the Kapilavastu District of Nepal went blind, surgery was out of reach. Despite living only one hour away from an eye hospital, the family simply did not have NRS 8,000 (approx USD 70) needed for her surgery.

95 million people worldwide are affected by blindness or severe visual impairment due to cataracts according to the WHO. Nearly 90% of the world’s blind live in the poorest countries in the world. Cataracts, in particular, are disproportionately prevalent in low-and-middle-income countries, where they account for 50% of all blindness, compared to just 5% of blindness in the West.

According to the World Health Organisation, 95 million people worldwide are affected by blindness or severe visual impairment due to cataracts. Cataracts are disproportionately prevalent in low-and-middle-income countries, where they account for 50% of blindness, compared to just 5% of blindness within developed countries.

This week an annual report arrived on my desk from Massachusetts Eye And Ear Hospital in Boston. The modest 21-page report leads with the news that its Bold Science. Life-Changing Cures’ campaign has now raised an astounding $252 million from donors.