Dr Sanduk Ruit has been honoured for his outstanding leadership in ophthalmology.

• Dr Ruit receives the Arthur Lim award in South Korea
• A world renowned eye surgeon, Dr Ruit has carried out over 120,000 cataract operations

Receiving the Arthur Lim Award at the Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology in South Korea this month, Dr Ruit was honored for his contribution to ophthalmic surgical, training and teaching methods that have been implemented around the world.

“There is an extreme inequity in terms of quality and quantity [in developing countries],” Dr Ruit said told the audience attending his Lim lecture. "It’s very important that blindness be addressed.”

Professor Arthur Lim Siew Ming is an ophthalmologist and founding director of the Singapore National Eye Centre who has also worked towards ending avoidable blindness.

Dr Ruit is one of the world's most celebrated eye surgeons and was a close friend of Fred Hollows. He worked with Fred to refine surgical methods used for removing cataract—a major cause of avoidable blindness.

Dr Ruit is the Medical Director of The Foundation-supported Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology. He has carried out over 120,000 cataract operations and is responsible for training eye surgeons across the world.

According to Dr Ruit it's not just about the millions who have had their sight restored—it's also about the sustainable eye health systems that have been set up.

"Before I met Fred, I thought the dreams were just dreams," he says.

Part of that dream was to establish an intraocular lens factory in Kathmandu, Nepal, which has now manufactured over 3 million low-cost, high quality intraocular lenses for use in modern cataract surgery in the developing world.

"I always believed cataract patients in this part of the world deserved the best," Dr Ruit says.