Dr. Reeta featured by J&J Medtech
Renowned ophthalmologist Dr. Reeta Gurung is the focus of a recent 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 is being recognized by the Johnson & Johnson family of companies. Johnson & Johnson Vision partners with HCP to fund training, equipment and surgeries.
Below is an excerpt of the feature article. Read the article in full here: https://www.jnjmedtech.com/
“Dr. Reeta Gurung, a highly respected cornea specialist, Master Trainer for HCP Cureblindness and CEO of the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology, is vacationing in Pokhara, Nepal. It’s 8:15 AM in Nepal, and Dr. Reeta (as her friends and colleagues know her) is immediately warm and caring. Even though on vacation, she is more than happy to spend an hour sharing stories about her life’s work: helping the blind see.
Dr. Reeta and her team are known for the “cataract camps” they host in remote Himalayan villages. At these camps, individuals with cataract blindness can be cured after one simple surgery — whether they can pay for it or not, without traveling to a hospital. One camp, held in Khunde, Nepal, was located at 4,000m (13,000 ft) above sea level.
“I was really scared because I was the only doctor. What if I couldn’t go up?” she says. “But I did.”
This vacation is well deserved.
The cataract camp in Khunde isn’t the only one held in a remote area. Dr. Reeta and HCP Cure Blindness perform cataract surgeries at four different camps, each located in isolated regions of the Tibetan Plateau. Most camps happen every two or three years. Some annually.
Nepal is home to an estimated 150,000 people with cataract blindness, a form of blindness that can be cured by surgical intervention — if you can get to a hospital. Many people, especially those living in remote Himalayan villages, cannot. The results of these camps speak for themselves. HCP Cure Blindness, a Johnson & Johnson Vision global charity partner established in 1995, has performed over 1 million sight-restoring surgeries and provided 13.1 million people with basic eye care.
