Four Nepalese blindness prevention institutions are de recipients of the 2013 António Champalimaud Vision Award.
The award was presented by the President of Portugal, Aníbal Cavaco Silva, to the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology, Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh, the Eastern Regional Eye Care Programme and the Lumbini Eye Institute.
The four Nepalese non-governmental organizations (NNJS) have been dedicated to the field of eye care service and research in Nepal for the past 40 years. Together, the four award recipients have contributed to a dramatic change in the paradigm of ophthalmologic care in Nepal.
Based in Lisbon, Portugal, the Champalimaud Foundation is a biomedical private research foundation. The award carries a cash prize of €1 million ($1.3 million), the world’s highest monetary prize in the field of eyesight research and prevention.
On behalf of the recipients, Professor Ram Prasad Pokhrel, founder of Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh (NNJS), stated to the press that he was very pleased with the award. “This amount will enable us to continue our work, to carry out more surgeries, launch a new center of ophthalmology and train more specialists,” he said..
NNJS actively monitors the various institutions and programs it created to combat vision disorders in Nepal, and plays an important role in publicizing the problem, mobilizing resources, and enrolling the participation of the local populations.
Established in 2006, The António Champalimaud Vision Award has the support of Vision 2020 – The Right To Sight, a global initiative for the prevention of blindness launched in association with the World Health Organization and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness,the largest in the world.
Source more: Champalimaud Foundation
paj.cm