Curing Blindness In Ghana
In September 2022, the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation took their mission to cure needless cataract blindness into Ghana. Similar to other countries, Ghana has an abundance of citizens who live in poverty. Many Ghanaians are stuck in an endless cycle of poverty where they do not have access to healthcare or vital resources.
This total lack of accessibility can encourage poverty further and create an unfair and inescapable system of deprivation. One of our key strategies of is to support the development of sustainable eye care systems in developing countries to assist and ensure that people ascend out of poverty.
Cataract blindness is a major global issue, affecting over 20 million people worldwide. The condition, which is caused by the clouding of the eye’s natural lens, is responsible for more than half of all blindness cases, and is particularly prevalent in developing countries, such as Ghana. Fortunately, cataract blindness is also one of the most preventable forms of blindness, as it can be treated with simple surgery.
When making interventions in a country, it is vital that organsations like ours train local surgeons and provide them with the necessary equipment and technology to perform cataract surgeries. In addition to supporting the development of sustainable eye care systems, we also work to raise awareness about the importance of eye health and the availability of treatment for cataract blindness.
So far, we have cured 1000 people across 6 different parts of Ghana. These include:
- Cape Coast
- Koforidua
- Bekwai
- Agogo
- Ejura
- Aflao
In 2021, the Ghanian Health Service reported that over 227,000 Ghanians were blind and 54.8% of them were blind due to cataracts. This data shows that the prevalence of cataract, which is easily cured, is far too high. The report also stated that the majority of those suffering from cataracts lived in remote and impoverished areas.
We aim to return to Ghana soon to cure thousands more of needless cataract blindness. Whilst doing this, we also plan to take our mission to other countires across Africa such as Tanzania and Ethiopia.
The Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation was founded in March 2021 by London philanthropist Tej Kolhi and Kathmandu ‘God of Sight’ Dr Sanduk Ruit. As of November 2022 the NGO had screened 170,022 patients and cured 22,663of blindness at 91 outreach camps in Nepal, Bhutan and Ghana. The Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation is a restricted fund operating under the auspices of Prism The Gift Fund, registered UK charity number 1099682. The Foundation targets the #1 United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of reducing poverty by making large-scale surgical interventions to cure blindness at the grassroots in the developing world. All treatments are provided completely free, with 100% of the funding coming from Tej Kohli and the Kohli family.
