The Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology in Kathmandu, Nepal is a world-class eye health facility high in the Himalayas. The Fred Hollows Foundation has a long history of working with Tilganga to alleviate avoidable blindness in Nepal and internationally.

Overview

Nepal lies along the southern edge of the Great Himalayan Range just north of India. The country’s overall health is poor because health services in general are inadequate and focused in the densely populated southern plains region, and poverty is widespread.

Although there are 150 ophthalmologists in Nepal, around half are located in the urban areas of Nepal despite the fact that more than 90% of Nepal's blind population lives in rural areas.

In 1980 a national Prevention of Blindness Program was established in Nepal but it was hampered by lack of equipment and training. When Fred Hollows visited the country as a consultant for the World Health Organization five years later he met Dr Sanduk Ruit, who was working on the program.

They found they were both passionate about ending avoidable blindness in Nepal and, in 1988, the Nepal Eye Program Australia (NEPA) was established by Dr Ruit, Fred and Gabi Hollows, Tim Macartney-Snape and other friends and colleagues, with the aim of supporting Nepal’s program.

When The Fred Hollows Foundation was set up in 1992, NEPA came under The Foundation’s umbrella.

In 1994, the Tilganga Eye Centre (incorporating the Fred Hollows Intraocular Lens Laboratory) was opened, just one year after Fred’s death. Dr Ruit was appointed Medical Director.

Today, The Foundation’s contribution to blindness prevention is a collaborative effort with what is now the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology (TIO), still led by the indefatigable Dr Ruit.

The Fred Hollows Foundation continues to provide funding for initiatives aimed at increasing the accessibility of eye care services to poor and remote communities in Nepal.

The partnership's groundbreaking work has built facilities, trained staff and implemented programs that make a real difference.

About the program

The Fred Hollows Foundation is currently supporting the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology in the following areas:

• institutional strengthening of Tilganga’s core operational functions
• ophthalmology residency training (10 doctors were trained as ophthalmologists in 2011)
• community eye health training (125 community  health workers were trained in basic eye care in 2011)
• funding outreach microsurgical clinics in remote and underserved areas of Nepal
• funding Community Eye Centres in Nuwakot, Dhading, Sindhupalchok, Rasuwa, Rolpa and Okhaldhunga districts
• providing support for the maintenance of equipment used by Tilganga's outreach clinic teams
• supplying intraocular lenses to other eye centres in Nepal
• providing assistance for ongoing staff training at Tilganga
• supporting national coordination to meet VISION2020 objectives.

The Foundation supported the extension of TIO between 2006 and 2009 thereby facilitating Tilganga's transition from an outpatient eye care facility to an international standard, tertiary-level eye care hospital that has raised standards of eye care in the Himalayan region and beyond.

Dr Sanduk Ruit

"It's such a small organ, the eye… and what a big role it plays." – Dr Sanduk Ruit, Medical Director, Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology, Kathmandu

When Fred Hollows and Dr Sanduk Ruit met in the mid-1980s they discovered a mutual determination to bring affordable and quality eye care to people living in developing countries like Nepal.

Dr Ruit came to Australia in 1988 to train and live with Fred and, on his return to Nepal, improved on the techniques he had learned in Australia.

Fundraising efforts through the Nepal Eye Program Australia and The Foundation then helped to establish Tilganga Eye Centre in Kathmandu, with Dr Ruit as Medical Director. Tilganga was officially opened in 1994 – a year after Fred Hollows died.

Since that time Dr Ruit has become one of the giants of world ophthalmology. He and his team continue to develop innovative surgical techniques and he has personally restored sight to around 100,000 people and trained thousands of eye health workers from around the world.

Eye health care in Nepal would not be where it is today without Dr Ruit as a driving force.

In 2009, Tilganga became the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology, with Dr Ruit still at the helm. The TIO has six divisions – a comprehensive ophthalmic unit, an education and training department, an outreach unit, an eye bank, the Fred Hollows IOL Laboratory, and a research unit.

Dr Ruit has received many awards in recognition of his work. Most recently, in 2010, he received one of Nepal’s greatest honours – the Ujjwol Kirtimaya Rashtra Deep award – for his medical contributions to the country.

> Watch the video of Dr Ruit, as seen on Ray Martin's special A Current Affair report.

Dr Reeta Gurung

Dr Reeta Gurung is the Deputy Medical Director of the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology in Kathmandu, where she has worked since 1994.

Dr Gurung is also a Medical Advisor to The Fred Hollows Foundation, helping our partners in other parts of Asia.

Among her many responsibilities at Tilganga, Dr Gurung works as a corneal specialist, conducts outreach camps in remote areas of Nepal as well as internationally, and supervises and mentors trainees.

In March 2011, Dr Gurung received a Distinguished Service Award from the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthamology for her contribution to eye health in Nepal.

Sources: Nepal Ministry of Health, Vision 2020, World Health Organization, UNDP Human Development Report 2010