The Rotary Club of Norfolk Sunrise is thrilled to announce that they have been successful in receiving a US$77,000 = CA$103,000 grant for their project, “Prevention of Retinopathy in Premature Babies,” from Rotary International. The project is part of the Club’s long affiliation with Operation Eyesight in India and will fund the purchase of a vehicle and the specialized equipment needed to diagnose and treat retinopathy in newborn babies. The club has raised over CA$60,000 for Operation Eyesight over the last few years and the rest is provided by Rotary District and Rotary International funds. Rotary project leader Jim Dawson commented that; "premature babies must be diagnosed and treated within two weeks of birth, so the vehicle will allow specialists to travel to four hospitals in the Moradabad, India area” (why India, you ask? Our logic is HERE.)
An article about a family in India that was able to benefit from this preventative work is given at this link. This same story is shown at the 'Read more ...' tab, in a pictorial story-board format.
BZ to the RCNS International Service Committee!
- Jim Simpson
OPERATION EYESIGHT – Why India?
India has by far the greatest underserviced eye health needs - the huge population with only private health care means that many people never see a doctor. Most of our patients are double-cataract, meaning they wait until they are blind in both eyes before seeking treatment.
Because of this India is world renowned for its eye hospitals, and India is where many eye surgeons from around the world are trained in the latest techniques. The other reason is cost effectiveness - costs are amazingly inexpensive so we can treat far more people per dollar than anywhere in the world.
So---- very high need and the best cost efficiency means Lions International, World Vision, SEVA, Operation Eyesight and a host of other Eye Health NGO's concentrate on India.
