The devastatingly high proportion of preventable eye conditions in the Indian sub-Continent account for the single largest concentration of blind people in the world.

In collaboration with United Christian Hospital (UCH) in Lahore, our free eye camps have expanded annually since 2005 to offer free testing, diagnosis, medication, surgery and intensive post-operative care. In addition, volunteer workshops in children’s wards throughout hospitals in Lahore are increasing preventative health awareness at the grassroots level.

State of the art FECO lens implants have restoried the gift of sight to some of the poorest and most impoverished, some of whom have travelled for days from surrounding villages to attend the camps. At the eye camp attended by AAFS delegates (Baba Ghai, Kusam Vedhara, Kiran Bali MBE JP & Andrew Singh Bogan) in November 2006, 500 patients were treated for advanced stages of cataracts, glaucoma, refractive disorders and diabetes-induced conditions.

Negotiations are on-going to enable rural health workers to undertake UCH secondments and receive professional support in delivering standards of best practice and promoting preventative health amongst the most impoverished villages.

Director General Dr I. Benjamin has been at the forefront of our eye camps and, in an emotional speech inaugurating a camp in 2006, announced that,