The institute received its due recognition for 25 years of dedicated service in the field of ophthalmology and eye care, both nationally and internationally.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Country Representative – Nepal Jos Vandelaer presented the certificate of recognition to TIO CEO Prof Dr. Reeta Gurung at an event conducted on July 23, 2019. Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was also present at the event.

TIO Chief Professor Dr. Sanduk Ruit was also honored on the occasion.

PM Oli pledged his support for the elevation, growth, highlighting its contribution in terms of country’s eye service sector, ophthalmology, training, human resource production and research internationally.

“This is a significant achievement for Nepal,” said Oli.

He praised the institute’s efforts to fight blindness to a considerable extent in short span of time. He stressed on the need for taking its services to distant settlements.

He added that such achievement was not expected by anyone else.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health and Population Upendra Yadav revealed that a 20-year-old strategy has been implemented to ensure all-round access to eye services.

“All districts have access to eye services, the cases of blindness have been significantly decreased and the production of eye specialists falls under the priority of the ministry,” he said.

Institute Chief Dr. Ruit and Collaborating Centre Announcement CEO Dr, Gurung said that TIO had focused all its activities on taking eye facilities to the community level, education, generation of human resources and research works related to the field.

TIO services span treatment of several eye diseases including eye cancer, shadow or dark curtain vision and glaucoma among others.

Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology (TIO) History and Achievements

• TIO was established in 1994 and has provided services through 17 community eye care centers
• It has trained 611 ophthalmologists, 732 ophthalmology health workers, 10,305 community health workers and 6,916 medical students since its inception
• Being one of the most reliable ophthalmology research institutes, it has conducted research in 210 projects and published 183 research articles
• TIO has provided eye care services to over six million people
• It has conducted cataract surgery for over 400,000 people
• It has trained ophthalmologists on cataract ophthalmology techniques from countries including Argentina, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Ghana, India and Korea among others
• It has collected over 10,000 retinas and has received pledges to donate retina from over 85,000 people
• TIO produces over five million lenses, which is distributed to 70 countries worldwide

Nepal’s SAARC Tuberculosis Centre in Bhaktapur has received the WHO Collaborating Centre title.

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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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