25,201 Gifts Of Sight After The Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation Screens 179,022 In Fight Against Poverty Blindness

LONDON: The Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation has passed a major milestone after curing 25,201 people of untreated cataract blindness in time for Christmas 2022. The London and Kathmandu-based NGO is the brainchild of ophthalmologist Dr Sanduk Ruit and philanthropist Tej Kohli. To locate those in need the NGO screened 179,022 patients at 91 outreach camps in Nepal, Bhutan and Ghana.

The Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation seeks to combat extreme poverty in the developing world by making large-scale interventions to cure untreated cataract blindness. The socio-economic return on the $50 to $100 that the NGO spends to cure a typical patient of blindness through surgical intervention is over 1,500% during the first postoperative year. All services are provided free at the point of use.

Amongst the patients cured of blindness during 2022 were Murathi Parsi, who could not afford surgery and lived her life in total darkness. Shri Mani Rai, who could not afford to make the twelve-hour journey to the nearest eye hospital. Anita, who had been abandoned by her husband because she had lost her sight. And a family whose three children had no prospects because they all were blind.

A highlight for the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation during 2022 was commencing a partnership with the Bhutanese Health Ministry to wipe our untreated cataract blindness from the Kingdom of Bhutan during the next five years under the Royal Patronage of the Bhutanese Royal Family. The NGO also launched its new global influencer panel with a combined following of 23.6 million.

In 2023 the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation plans to expand and accelerate its mission by curing a further 56,500 people of untreated cataract blindness in countries including Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Bangladesh and Tanzania; placing the NGO on track in its objective to cure at least 300,000 people in the developing world by 2030.

Tej Kohli, co-founder of the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation said:

“Curing untreated blindness at scale in the developing world is one of the most targeted and efficient ways to combat extreme poverty and to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We have made a good start and we are committed to reaching our targets for 2030.”

The Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation is a restricted fund operating under the auspices of Prism The Gift Fund, registered UK charity number 1099682. For more information about the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation visit:

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