More than 50 million people suffer from blindness all around the world. While most of these cases of blindness cannot be treated, some can be. However, despite the bright scope of treatment, the condition remains still the worse owing to poverty.
Poverty and blindness have an indirect relationship. While poverty is one of the reasons why blindness cannot be treated, blindness is also one of the reasons that causes extreme poverty in the world. The treatment for blindness can cost as less as 50$; however, owing to a lack of funds and limited access to the best medical treatment and infrastructure, most people don’t go ahead with the treatment.
Inversely, blindness also happens to induce poverty by affecting the patient’s employment capability and also their loved and dear ones’ who are forced to sacrifice employment to take care of the needy. Nevertheless, the fix remains the same – treating blindness. To make this world a better place, Mr. Tej Kohli and Dr.SandukRuit have come together to offer the needy the gift of vision.
Mr. Tej Kohli, the very famous billionaire and investor believes that you can make someone’s life better by giving them something they do not have; something they crave to have night and day. What better gift will there be than the gift of vision to those who don’t have it? Not to mention, curing blindness is one of the major ways to reduce poverty in the world.
Collaborating with him on the very noble initiative is Dr.Sanduk Ruit, better known as the “God of Eye” by thousands of patients he has treated. He is the founder and the executive director of Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology in Nepal who made it his life goal to become a doctor to treat the needy after losing his siblings to a disease. It was the very moment he decided to those communities that lack access to good quality healthcare.
Mr. Tej Kohli and Dr.SandukRuit’s foundation was set up with the vision of curing blindness in the underprivileged sections of the world. By 2030, they plan to treat over half a million people of blindness. Up until now, they have screened over 1,50,000 people and cured over 15,000 of them.
The foundation began its journey from the poor suburbs of Nepal wherein they set up numerous outreach camps to provide proper medical access to the underprivileged. These suburbs included Manang where they cured 62 people of blindness and screened 832 people. In Nijhgadh, the foundation cured 305 patients after screening over 2206. Other outreach camps where the foundation provided treatment included Doramba, Bajhang, Dolakha, Solukhumbu, and Lumbi.
While Nepal has been the first country where the foundation set its steps for its mission, it won’t be the only in the near future. Mr. Tej Kohli and Dr.SandukRuit plan to expand the access of the best medical treatment in other underprivileged sections of India, Indonesia, Bhutan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, North Korea, Afghanistan, Rwanda, Tanzania, Lebanon and Syria.
With extensive plans already mapped out, Mr Tej Kohli and Dr.SandukRuit’s foundation has witnessed multiple milestones and achievements. However, these achievements don’t mean the end of the vision. They have 2030 in sight – by which they plan to treat half a million people with blindness.
As life becomes better when you get what you don’t have, both the visionaries have made it their mission to offer these deserving the gift of vision to make their lives better.
