Operation Restore Sight Returns to Nepal

After a successful track-record of restoring eyesight to over 150 villagers in 2013 and 2017, the ‘Gift of Sight Expedition 2018’ is back to continue its good work in Nepal!

A team of ophthalmologists headed by Dooley Intermed International President Scott Hamilton and Dr. Ronald C Gentile from New York are travelling to Nepal to provide majorly-required ophthalmic care for more than 1000 villagers from Gunghadi, Western Nepal’s Mugu district, one of the most impoverished and remote Nepali regions.

Nepal-based Himalaya Eye Hospital and the Pema Ts’al Sakya Monastic Institute experts will be supporting the mission.

Talking about the potential of cataract surgery, Dr. Gentile said that it is one of the economic and satisfying surgeries in the field of medicine as patients receive relief overnight with successful results of full eyesight restoration.

About the expedition, he said, “All medical care, eyeglasses, medicines and surgeries will be provided completely free of cost to everyone in need.”

The team of experts will include, Yale School of Medicine Ophthalmology & Visual Science Associate Professor Chris Teng MD and Advanced Eye Medical Group Oculoplastic Surgeon Omar Ozgur, among others.

Dooley Intermed Operation ‘Restore Sight’ team has treated more than 1,500 patients from Lower Mustang and Upper Gorkha regions and has been instrumental in the construction of a new Eye Hospital in Nepal’s Kavre District.

The sight restoration program is scheduled to begin in October.

While the Nepal Government is making serious efforts in improving and increasing its medical health care reach, it is the efforts of international health missions like the Gift of Sight Expedition that fill the missing gaps in health care provision in Nepal’s remote parts.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 39 million people are blind worldwide, out of which, approximately 90% of them live in low-income areas and 80% suffer from sight problems that can be cured.

But it’s noteworthy to mark Nepal’s progress in terms of health care so far. The country’s success can be measured through its initiatives to fight and eradicate eye diseases like diabetic retinopathy and trachoma.