President Bidya Devi Bhandari presented Dr. Ruit with a cash prize of NPR 500,000 in a special ceremony at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers on Monday.

The award was presented to Dr. Ruit for his contribution to the field of Ophthalmology in Nepal.

Praising the Senior Ophthalmologist, Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari said that he is a shining star in the field of Ophthalmology. Bhandari said that she wishes to see him engage in more research projects and inventions in the days ahead, earning himself more fame.

Dr. Ruit established Tilganga Eye Hospital on his own 30 years ago. The hospital currently serves three countries besides Nepal – Bhutan, China and India.

Speaking on the occasion, the Tilganga Hospital founder said that the hospital has come up with a new technology that will be extended to Asia, Africa and South America.

Besides Dr. Ruit, prominent persons such as Radi Miya and Bikalpa Dhungana were also honored at the event.

President Bhandari presented the Prime Minister National Talent Grant-2075 to Miya and Dhungana. Both the Nepali inventors were presented with a cash prize of NPR 250,000, respectively.

Young Inventor Miya was honored for his contributions to the field of agriculture, with inventions including agricultural tools and technology.

Likewise, Dhungana was honored for his inventions – a solar scooter and smart traffic mask.

The Nepal Government came up with the idea to present the Prime Minister National Talent Award and the Prime Minister National Talent Grant to honor and recognize the efforts of Nepali talents, who make a difference to the country and establish a revolving fund of NPR 22 million in the process.

Speaking about Nepal’s talent, President Bhandari said that Nepal is a fertile land of talents. She added that Nepal is home to many world-famous personalities including Buddha – the precursor of world peace, Bed Byas – creator of the Vedas and Purans, Rhishi Yagyawalkya and Balmiki – composers of the Ramayana.

She assured that the government is committed to encouraging and recognizing people’s contribution to research, innovation, peace, good governance, exploration and development.

“The government has started the culture of honouring genius Nepali citizens. I want to thank the government for its noble initiative,” said President Bhandari.

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Matrika Prasad Yadav presented a cheque with the above-mentioned amount to Prof Dr. Sanduk Ruit, Executive Director at TIO.

Dr. Ruit has said promised to do his best to increase the production, capacity and efficiency.

Speaking at the event, TIO Chief Administrator, Bhagirrath Baniya said, “The government support will help us increase our lens production capacity. However, we will have to manage budget for procurement of advanced machines and construction of new buildings on our own.”

With a capacity of producing 450,000 lenses each year, the TIO is the only hospital in Nepal that produces lenses. Out of 450,000 lenses, 150,000 are utilized by the citizens of Nepal itself while the remaining are exported to other countries.

Baniya told media TIO has been exporting lens to 35 countries. Adding further, he said, that lenses have a high demand in China, Pakistan and Thailand “We are not being able to supply lens as per the demand, but hope to export more lenses soon,” he said.

The TIO begin production from new labs in 2019. Baniya said, “We produce 500 lenses in one batch. Production of one batch of lenses takes three weeks,”

Background:

The TIO was formally inaugurated in April 2009 and has continued to expand its services since then. With an increased land capacity of 110,000 sq. ft., it is able to treat more patients, train ophthalmic officials at all levels and offer added expertise and in-depth support to community centers and ophthalmic teams in Nepal.

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Early Years and Education

Dr. Ruit was born in a remote mountainous village in Eastern Nepal with no access to education and other basic facilities. Realizing the importance of education, his father sent him to Darjeeling in India for his schooling. The death of his sister due to tuberculosis motivated young Sanduk to take up higher studies in medicine.

After completing his ophthalmology residency at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi, Dr. Ruit returned to Nepal to work as a government health officer. With a firm belief that all people deserve affordable and high-quality eye care, he made it his life’s mission to make eye care available to the poorest of the poor and eradicate blindness to the extent possible.

Establishing Tilganga

Dr. Ruit worked with his mentor and close friend late Fred Hollows, an Australian ophthalmologist and philanthropist in setting up Tilganga, dedicated to providing world-class eye care to the people of Nepal. He also travelled across the world and has personally treated over 100,000 patients successfully over the past three decades. He has trained thousands of doctors from various countries on his techniques, as part of his efforts to reduce cataract, the leading cause of blindness which is expected to affect over 30.1 million people worldwide by 2020.

A Global Visionary

Dr. Ruit has been honored with several awards which include the Asia Game Changers Award, Arthur Lim Award, Walter L Hurd Executive Medal and the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay award for Peace and International Understanding among others.

He was selected as one of the hundred leading global visionaries by the Albert Einstein Foundation. His thoughts and vision will be included in the historic publication Genius, the world’s first 3D-printed book which is going to be launched in Montreal, Canada in September 2017.

Very recently on April 02, 2018, the Government of India has conferred Dr. Ruit with the country’s one of the prestigious civilian awards Padma Shri Award, for his contribution to the field of Medicine (Ophthalmology).

Congratulating Dr. Ruit, Indian President Ram Nath Kovind moved on to his Twitter stating, “Dr. Ruit is an AIIMS-educated Nepali Opthalmologist who reduced the cost of cataract eye surgery by 90%. He treats 2,500 patients every week and offers free treatment to those who cannot afford to pay.”

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