Today, an estimated 180 million people worldwide are visually disabled. Of these, between 40 and 45 million people are blind and, by definition, cannot walk about unaided.
9 out of 10 of the world's blind live in developing countries, where the loss of sight causes enormous human suffering for the affected individuals and their families. It also represents a public health, social, and economic problem because families often rely on every member for support.
Cataracts, clouding of the lenses, compose half of that blindness.
(http://www.emro.who.int/health-topics/cataract/)
Though blindness due to cataracts is preventable and correctable, many developing countries have inadequate surgical services, and people of all ages are at risk.
Enter: a humanitarian hero of ophthalmology
Dr. Sanduk Ruit (pictured on the right). Some of his patients are pictured on the left.
Dr. Sanduk Ruit pioneered a small-incision cataract surgery with inexpensive lenses (as low at $3.50 each) to restore vision to hundreds of thousands of people across Nepal and surrounding countries, including North Korea. He also teaches his technique to other eye surgeons, and his methods are now practiced in many parts of the world, even by U.S. military surgeons.
(Source: http://www.cureblindness.org/who/dr-sanduk-ruit/)
Dr. Ruit in North Korea
(Source: http://www.cureblindness.org/who/dr-sanduk-ruit/)
Dr. Ruit teaching cataract surgery techniques.
(Source: http://www.cureblindness.org/who/dr-sanduk-ruit/)
(Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/35935864/ns/health-health_care/t/nepalese-doc-god-sight-nations-poor/#.VXWgIs9Viko)
You can find his story on Netflix in some of the following documentaries: Inside North Korea, Out of the Darkness, and in several episodes of The Human Planet.
