Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation and HCP Cureblindness cure 580 of blindness in just 4 days in Ghana

London - The Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation and HCP Cureblindness have cured 580 people of blindness in 4 days in Ghana as part of a joint mission to combat extreme poverty by curing untreated cataract blindness at scale in the developing world. The joint mission will see a total of 8,000 people cured of blindness in Ghana by the end of 2023.

Amongst the patients cured of blindness in the Koforidua region was 52-year-old Anuku Esther who lives with her family in Suhum. Two years ago, she began to complain of vision loss which eventually led to her becoming completely blind. Before her blindness, Anuku sold products in the local market to provide for her family and spent much of her time caring for her young daughter. After becoming blind, her young daughter was having to care for her instead.

Anuku’s surgery to cure her cataract blindness was conducted by Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation co-founder Dr Sanduk Ruit at a microsurgical outreach camp held under the National Cataract Outreach Program, an initiative launched by the Ghana Health Service and HCP Cureblindness. The very next day Anuku was able to see again and immediately planned to return to the market to provide for her family once again. Anuku also immediately unburdened her daughter from the duty of care so that she could pursue her education and better prospects for her future.

Anuku’s story illustrated how curing untreated blindness is a powerful catalyst for extreme poverty production and is typical of the 35,791 patients that the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation has cured of blindness during the last 24 months in Nepal, Bhutan, Ghana and Ethiopia.

70% of Ghanian people live in areas without any access to healthcare systems. Across the whole of Ghana, there are only 54 eye care specialists, who mainly reside and work in the larger, urbanised cities. In 2021 the Ghanaian Health Service estimated that 227,920 people were suffering from some form of blindness, with 54.8% suffering with cataracts.

Through a systemic commitment to training local healthcare professionals, the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation and HCP Cureblindness are seeking to transform the way that eye care is delivered around the world and to build a legacy of sustainable eye care infrastructure. Many of the doctors who performed surgeries at the outreach camp in Ghana were originally trained by Dr Sanduk Ruit.

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

“Collaboration between organizations such as HCP Cureblindness and the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation can have a huge impact, but we must not forget that untreated blindness is a pervasive and systemic problem throughout the developing world. We hope that the wider global health community will be able to follow our example so that we can target the abolition of untreated blindness and make inroads toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals.”

About the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation:

The Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation was founded in March 2021 by philanthropist Tej Kohli and Isa Award for Services To Humanity Award winner Dr Sanduk Ruit. As of April 2023 the NGO had screened 244,971 patients and cured 35,791 of blindness in Nepal, Bhutan, Ghana and Ethiopia. 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:

Website: www.tejkohliruit.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tejkohliruit/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tejkohliruitfoundation

Medium: https://tejkohliruitfoundation.medium.com/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tkrfoundation

About HCP Cure Blindness:

HCP Cureblindness works to eradicate preventable and curable blindness throughout underserved communities worldwide. With the help of its global partners, HCP provides high-quality eye care, education, and world-class eye care infrastructure in over 20 countries. Since its founding in 1995, HCP has performed over 1.19 million sight-restoring surgeries and provided screening and basic care to over 13.3 million people.

For more information about HCP Cureblindness visit:

Website: www.cureblindness.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cureblindness

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CureBlindness

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CureBlindness