Celebrating International Women's Day
March 8 is International Women’s Day - a day to celebrate the achievements of women and to take action for gender equality.
The impact of unnecessary blindness on women is startling. Globally, two-thirds of the 36 million people who are blind are women. 90% of those women live in poverty. And access to health care is not as readily available to women as it is to men.
When it comes to treating women with cataract blindness, many factors lead to an inequality of care: family responsibilities and traditional gender roles, religious and social restrictions, lower financial status, social restrictions on travel and limited education that makes understanding health care options challenging.
In our efforts to build gender equity within the eye care profession, HCP is proud to work with and support many outstanding women partners, including:
Dr. Reeta Gurung is one of our most prolific partners. As the Chief Executive Officer of Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology in Nepal, her mentorship of ophthalmic personnel is ensuring future generations of professionals and furthering gender equity in the field of eye care.
Dr. Agatha Mensa-Debrah is not only an optometrist for Ghana Health Services, she serves as our Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Specialist in Ghana - a role that helps to improve patient outcomes.
Dr. Hening Naluria completed a fellowship in Pediatric Ophthalmology and Adult Strabismus at the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology with the desire to help Indonesian children with eye problems.
Dr. Vera Essuman is a pioneer in pediatric ophthalmology in Ghana as she was the first pediatric ophthalmologist to be trained there.
Dr. Gladys Fordjour is a Cornea Subspecialist, who understands the value of training opportunities.
On March 8, we hope you will join us in celebrating International Women’s Day and the incredible women who are making a difference in the field of global eye care.
