High-volume cataract surgery & training model as the cornerstone to strengthening national eyehealth programs
MLC Vanguard | Created by HCP|CureBlindness
HCP partners with local eye health providers to help them build and maintain high-quality eye care in their communities. Through training, equipment and infrastructure support, they cultivate the growth of local, sustainable eye care systems
13,100,000 Lives Impacted
Avoidable blindness is a global epidemic with tragic consequences and identifiable solutions. Thirty-six million people are blind worldwide, another 246 million struggle with low vision. Yet 80% of this burden is treatable or preventable. Ninety percent of the afflicted live in low- to middle-income countries with an estimated 60% of blindness experienced by women.
While cataracts affect predominantly older populations, often 50 and older, HCP|CureBlindness provides sight-restoring surgery to people across the entire age spectrum. This is the case in the countries in which we work because cataracts can affect people at younger ages, due to trauma, genetics, nutrition, exposure to smoke, exposure to UV rays, and lack of early detection.
HCP|CureBlindness’ is currently accelerating the expansion of their community- and systems-based approach to training, equipping and providing sight-restoring surgery. It combines a low-cost, low-tech, high-volume surgical method with a multi-tiered training approach for all levels of ophthalmic personnel, focusing on high-volume surgical exposure.
The Innovation
HCP|CureBlindness’ innovation to reversing avoidable blindness uses the elimination of cataracts as the cornerstone of national eyecare strengthening. It is a grassroots, community-based model that combines a low-cost, low-tech, high-volume surgical method with a multi-tiered training approach for all levels of ophthalmic personnel, focusing on high-volume surgical exposure. In our lean, efficient model, surgical teams can perform over 1,000-1,500 surgeries in one week, while simultaneously teaching the next generation of surgeons, nurses, and technicians through high-volume exposure. With clinical and surgical exposure comes higher quality care, which drives patient demand. Highly-skilled clinicians often seek more advanced, specialized training. HCP|CureBlindness also supports subspecialty training and the development of ophthalmic residency programs to grow each country’s clinical eyecare foundation. This action-based approach to national eyecare development from the ground-up builds local leadership and empowerment.
Our model has proven successful in countries with varied geographies and political and national healthcare systems, demonstrating clinical outcomes rivaling the West at a fraction of the cost. HCP|CureBlindness began its work in 1994 in Nepal, where alongside our sister institution, Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology, we helped one of the poorest countries in Asia reverse its rate of blindness. Over 10 years, the prevalence of blindness fell by 58% with a 1,900% increase in cataract surgeries and Nepalese ophthalmologists are among the world’s finest.
These efforts yielded a sustainable and replicable solution for eradicating cataract blindness: our innovations in surgical technique, supply chains, and delivery systems enable this high-volume, high-quality cataract surgery at material costs of $25. We have made enormous strides in replicating this model in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, with a thriving network of well-positioned and capable partners. Together HCP|CureBlindness and its partners have:
screened 11,101,500 individuals; performed 970,596 sight-restoring surgeries; trained 18,000 eye care professionals (552 ophthalmologists) from 43 countries; and established 3 dedicated eye hospitals/training institutes.
Implemented in
Laos, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, and other 20 countries
Get in touch
HCP|CureBlindness HQ
About HCP|CureBlindness
Two ophthalmologists, Dr. Sanduk Ruit and Dr. Geoff Tabin, started the Himalayan Cataract Project to fulfill their personal goals of eradicating as much unnecessary blindness in their lifetimes as possible.
Drs. Ruit and Tabin have proven that hospital quality standards can be applied in poor areas lacking electricity and clean water. Their inventive approach and dogged perseverance made what 20 years ago was considered impossible – possible. Today HCP reaches the most unreachable patients wherever its services are needed.
