The Seva-supported Kham Eye Center in Dartsedo will officially open in October 2010 but is already treating patients and performing cataract surgeries.
This blind Tibetan man is one of the first patients at the new Kham Eye Center in Dartsedo. He will receive cataract surgery to restore his sight.
The region has one of the highest rates of preventable and treatable blindness in the world and the need for care is huge. The high prevalence of age related cataract blindness among Tibetans is perhaps due to high altitude ultraviolet light exposure. According to a study in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, blindness and visual impairment in the Tibet Autonomous Region are significant public health problems, with the most elderly having rates of blindness between 12% and 33%. Women in Tibet bear two thirds of the burden of blindness.The Kham Eye Centre is the first dedicated eye hospital on the Tibetan plateau. Kham Eye Center is the brainchild of Dr. Dorjee, chief ophthalmologist and director of Kandze Prefecture People’s Hospital. Dr. Dorjee is an extremely dedicated and compassionate eye surgeon. When the devastating earthquake struck the Yushu area in April, Dr. Dorjee was in the region conducting surgical eye camps. He and his medical team rushed to the earthquake zone to offer emergency assistance and, in the first day alone, treated 800 earthquake victims.Blind patients arriving at the Kham Eye Center in Dartsedo for eye surgery
The Kham Eye Center is a non-profit eye care institution specializing in clinical services, research, teaching and prevention and treatment of eye disease. Seva is funding the human resource development, technical and managerial mentorship, and provision of ophthalmic equipment instruments and supplies. The goals of the Kham Eye Center are: 1. to conduct a minimum of 14,000 cataract sight restoring surgeries over the next 5 years; 2. to establish 10 vision centers by 2010; 3. to train 10 eye doctors and 10 county level nurses; 4. to establish the Center as a standard national eye hospital, using state-of-the-art technology; 5. to become the model eye care program in the Kham region; 6. to become an eye care training center; 7. and to develop as a community ophthalmology center.
