2022 Year in Review
Thank you to all of our supporters, friends and partners who made 2022 a successful year in global eye care.
With your support, HCP Cureblindness and our partners completed nearly 50,000 surgeries in areas of high need. We offered more than 500 training opportunities to medical personnel to provide quality eye care in their countries. And we procured thousands of needed medical items for new and growing eye care centers. Highlights from the year include new partners, new regions, new faces and deepened impact, all in support of the mission to cure needless blindness with high-quality, cost-effective eye care in underserved areas of the world.
In 2022, we expanded programming and partnerships to further extend our impact. We returned to South Sudan to deepen partnerships and focus on training local personnel as the amount of needless blindness is extraordinarily high. In partnership with SEE International, we supported cataract outreach and hands-on mentoring in the Philippines. Finally, with support from Lever for Change, we partnered with Helen Keller International in Tanzania. The collaboration, which pairs Helen Keller’s expertise in Trachomatous Trichiasis (TT) care and HCP’s in cataract care, will ensure that local practitioners reach more patients in need through their already existent TT case finding and clinical flow.
HCP partner, renowned ophthalmologist Dr. Reeta Gurung was the focus of a feature article published by Johnson & Johnson Medtech, highlighting her work as a philanthropist, teacher and CEO of HCP's longest tenured partner, the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology. As a Johnson & Johnson Vision Global Charity Partner, HCP is thrilled that Dr. Gurung’s work eliminating needless blindness in remote areas of Nepal was recognized by the Johnson & Johnson family of companies.
HCP invested in new programs and initiatives focused on research and training. Since 2008, HCP has offered an International Fellowship that provides highly-trained, early career ophthalmologists with global healthcare experience. Fellows work under the guidance of HCP Co-founder Dr. Geoff Tabin to train in eye care provision in diverse settings. In July, HCP reunited almost 80 Fellows from all over the world for the Inaugural HCP Fellows Reunion & Workshop. The goal of this workshop was to establish an alumni community to share resources, create new connections and take advantage of the collective talents and desire to contribute to global ophthalmology.
HCP welcomed a number of new leaders in 2022, including Dr. James Addy in Ghana and Ms. Punam Bhandari in Nepal, who lead HCP programming in their respective regions, and CEO K-T Overbey who joined HCP in the fall.
We are so grateful to you and all our friends for making these achievements possible and we look forward to an exceptional year of restoring sight together in 2023.
