HCP Cureblindness is now Cure Blindness Project See More

Our Founding Story

Recognizing that cataracts are treatable and cause 70% of unnecessary blindness in Nepal galvanized our founders to take action. Unknown to them at the time were a series of significant challenges they faced in their quest to eradicate blindness. Each challenge led to the furtherance of our core innovation.

The Himalayan Cataract Project was co-founded by doctors Sanduk Ruit and Geoff Tabin in 1995 as a charitable organization to support their work.

Over the years, we’ve navigated steep cliffs, earthquakes, civil war and endless red tape to deliver cataract care to needlessly blind people in under-resourced communities.

We overcome barriers impeding delivery of sight-restoring surgeries and world-class eye care with a focus on providing high-quality care, training local personnel, and establishing eye care infrastructure.

We work with partners to establish and perfect methodologies optimized for low resource environments. Cataract surgery can be performed in approximately ten minutes, with limited resources, minimal follow-up and extraordinary results.

Doctors Ruit and Tabin have been teaching their cataract surgery technique at ophthalmology meetings throughout the world, including the American Academy of Ophthalmology Annual Meeting, the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons annual meetings and the World Ophthalmology Congress.

Nepal, 2004
China, 2004
Bhutan, 2004
Nepal, 2008
Ethiopia, 2009
Nigeria, 2010
South Sudan, 2012
Ghana, 2014
Philippines, 2022
Ghana, 2023
Tanzania, 2024

Nepal, 2004

China, 2004

Bhutan, 2004

© Michael Amendolia

Nepal, 2008

Line of patients at Hetauda Community Eye Hospital opening, 2008

Ethiopia, 2009

©Ace Kvale Photography

Nigeria, 2010

South Sudan, 2012

©Jordan Campbell

Ghana, 2014

February 2014 Inauguration of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi, Ghana

Philippines, 2022

Ghana, 2023

Tanzania, 2024

Nearly 30 years, 1.6 million surgeries

In 2024, what began as the Himalayan Cataract Project became Cure Blindness Project. This rebranding marks a strategic evolution to better encompass our expanded geographical footprint and our unwavering commitment to eliminating avoidable blindness worldwide, whatever its cause.

At its heart, Cure Blindness Project is more than statistics on cataract surgeries, the number of eye care professionals we’ve trained, or the amount of equipment we’ve procured for clinics and hospitals. Our work tells the story of millions of lives—individuals, families, communities—restored through cataract surgery and quality eye care. It’s the story of the thousands of eye care professionals serving in areas where once there were only a few or even none. It’s the story of eye care centers making access to care possible for people in low resource and remote communities. We are proud of our accomplishments, but we are most proud of the partnerships we have formed and the friendships that have made our work possible.

Timeline of Cure Blindness Project Impact

1995

Founding of HCP: 3,039 surgeries

1995

Nepal

With a mission to cure needless blindness with highest quality care at lowest cost, Drs. Tabin and Ruit established the Himalayan Cataract Project (HCP) in support of Dr. Ruit’s Tilganga Eye Clinic, started a year earlier in Kathmandu, Nepal.

1995-2000

Nepal

Five eye surgeons receive specialty training during international fellowships. As the first eye specialists in the country, they all become master trainers at Tilganga

1996

Tibet

Dr. Ruit completes the first modern cataract surgery in Tibet. A year later, HCP trains Tibetan eye surgeons on the procedure.

1999

Bhutan

Dr. Kunzang Getshen, the sole trained ophthalmologist in his country, invites Dr. Tabin to the kingdom of Bhutan, hoping to replicate the tangible success in reducing the rate of blindness in Nepal.

1999

Nepal

The Lhasa Institute of Eye Care opens.

2000

Bhutan

Mark Daniell pledges pivotal investment to expand HCP’s work into Bhutan.

2000

Bhutan

Partnership formed with the Royal Government of Bhutan to support training, equipment, and eye care programs.

2003

Nepal

USAID’s ASHA (American Schools and Hospitals Abroad) support begins for construction and equipment at the Tilganga Institute.

2003

Nepal

Tilganga begins the first world-class ophthalmology residency program in Nepal.

2004

India

Jamgon Kongtrul Eye Centre established in Kalimpong to provide care for patients in the district and training to surgeons from West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Jammu Kashmir.

2005

Utah

Dr. Tabin transitions to the Moran Eye Center in Utah where he links the residency programs of Tilganga and Moran. Residents share cases and spend time at both centers. From this model, other international eye centers welcome physician trainers and trainees.

2005

10 Years: 84,566 Surgeries

2006

Recognition

Dr. Sanduk Ruit awarded the Magsaysay Award for Peace and International Understanding.

2006

Resource

Drs. Ruit and Tabin develop a resource manual for training eye surgeons around the globe. Published by American Public Health Association, Fighting Global Blindness shares the effective and practical methods learned from building replicable training models for overcoming needless cataract blindness.

2006

Ghana

HCP establishes partnerships with in-country hospitals and clinics.

2007

Support

Helping secure its long-term stability, HCP endowment established with a major gift from the Jane Westervelt Charitable Trust.

2008

Ethiopia

Work begins with first partners in Ethiopia.

2008

Nepal

The Hetauda Community Eye Hospital in Makawanpur district is established with support from HCP. Hetauda is part of Tilganga’s network of community eye hospitals that bring care closer to those who need it most.

2007-2011

Africa

In collaboration with the Millennium Villages Project and Jeffrey Sachs of the Earth Institute, HCP oversees eye care interventions for approximately 60,000 people in 12 villages across 10 countries in Africa. HCP launches throughout the continent, proving that community-based screening and high-volume outreaches could be successful in treating cataract blindness in sub-Saharan Africa.


2009

Rwanda

As part of the Millennium Villages Project, Dr. Tabin expands work into Rwanda with micro-surgical and screening campaigns.

2009

Nepal

Inaugural opening of the expansion of Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology with support from USAID’s ASHA funds.

2009

Recognition

Dr. Tabin receives the Unsung Heroes of Compassion Award by the Dalai Lama.

2009

Support

Adding to essential endowment funds, HCP receives a generous bequest from Eugene Charlop.

2010

15 Years: 207,198 Surgeries

2010

Partnership

HCP begins working with SightLife in Nepal to strengthen the Nepal Eye Bank and in 2011, partners with the Eye Bank of Ethiopia.

2011

Procurement

HCP Technology and Procurement program established. Since inception, this program has procured over $23.4 million worth of ophthalmic equipment and supplies to partners in 56 countries.

2011

South Sudan

First outreach to South Sudan in coordination with Johnny Dau of the Lost Boys. HCP led a second surgical intervention in the country in 2019.

2011

Nepal

The Refractive Surgery Unit at Tilganga is inaugurated and proves that an effective revenue-generating model can support community eye care systems. This project was executed in partnership with London Vision Clinic, supported by USAID-ASHA funds, and championed by Dr. Dan Reinstein.


2011

Journey

The award-winning documentary Out of Darkness follows Drs. Tabin and Ruit on a four-day trek to a remote village in Nepal to restore sight to villagers who live there.

2012

Indonesia

First training and workshop in coordination with Indonesia ophthalmologists training at Tilganga.

2013

Journey

The journey of Dr. Ruit and Dr. Tabin is charted in a biographical book by David Oliver Relin, Second Suns: Two Trailblazing Doctors and Their Quest to Cure Blindness.

2013

Recognition

Tilganga receives the Antonio Champalimaud Vision Award—considered the “Nobel Prize for Vision”—for adapting a system of high-quality, high-volume, low-cost cataract care to the most inaccessible regions of the Himalayas.

2014

Ghana

Opening of the facilities expansion at the Eye Centre at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Ghana.

2015

20 Years: 527,812 Surgeries

More than doubled in 5 years what had taken 15 years to accomplish!

2015

Nepal

Tilganga coordinates relief effort to provide food, medicine, and emergency supplies to rural villages hit hardest by a devastating earthquake.

2016

Africa

Number of eye care partnerships in sub- Saharan Africa reaches 10 in Ethiopia and three in Ghana.

2016

Recognition

Dr. Ruit receives Asia Society Game Changer Award at UN for his transformative impact on the future of Asia.

2017

Recognition

HCP named a semi-finalist for the 100&Change MacArthur Foundation Prize for who can best change life on earth.

2017

California

Dr. Tabin transfers to Stanford’s Byers Institute in California where he establishes an additional location for education exchange opportunities.

2017

Ghana

National Cataract Outreach Program (NCOP) established in Ghana, partnering with Ghana’s National Health Services to eliminate needless blindness in the country.

2018

Journey

The extraordinary life of Dr. Sanduk Ruit is chronicled in the new biography, The Barefoot Surgeon.

2019

Bhutan

Gyalyum Kesang Choeden Wangchuck National Eye Centre, a 27,000 square-foot clinical training facility is inaugurated in Bhutan with support from HCP, Wen Giving Foundation, and Tilganga.

2019

Eritrea

HCP’s first outreach in Eritrea.

2019

Recognition

The Ophthalmologist Magazine names Drs. Ruit and Tabin as Champions of Change on their 2019 Power List.

2020

25 Years: Over 1,000,000 Surgeries

2020

Milestone

1 millionth surgery / 25 years of changing the arc of global blindness.

2020

Ethiopia

HCP breaks ground on the Bahir Dar Specialty Eye Center.

2020

Recognition

Pulitzer-prize winning NYTimes columnist, Nicolas Kristof selects HCP for the Holiday Impact Prize.

2021

Recognition

Drs. Tabin and Ruit receive the Chang-Crandall Humanitarian Award from the ASCRS Foundation.

2023

Journey

HCP Cureblindness acquires SightLife International.

2024

Journey

HCP Cureblindness rebrands as Cure Blindness Project to mark a strategic evolution to better encompass our expanded geographical footprint and our unwavering commitment to eliminating avoidable blindness worldwide, whatever its cause.

2024

Milestone

Over 1.6 Million Surgeries
Cure Blindness Project announces it is expanding work in 6 new countries: Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Pakistan, Paraguay, and Zambia

Looking to the Future

Together, we will scale our work to reach even more people in the most remote places of the world with life-transforming eye care. We will provide access to training opportunities for all levels of ophthalmic personnel, building national eye care systems in low-resource countries. We will provide more equipment to growing eye care facilities, and build additional eye centers to serve people with little access to eye care.

Join us in curing avoidable blindness around the world