At the district prison in Banke, with no access to eye care facilities, inmates couldn’t do much except make repeated request to authorities to draw attention to their visual impairment. Keeping in mind the rising number of complaints related to vision, prison authorities were more than welcoming when the Tej Kohli and Ruit Foundation said it would conduct an eye screening camp for the inmates.
Therefore, on 25th and 26th August, 2021, the Tej Kohli and Ruit Foundation conducted a screening camp for inmates detained at the Banke District Prison. Of the 796 detainees, 407 patients’ eyes were screened for cataracts and other ailments over two days. Of the 407, 9 patients were identified with cataracts, and in need of surgery.
The Tej Kohli and Ruit Foundation believes that good sight is a universal right, and that people from all sections of society should have an equal opportunity to see clearly. It aspires to cure half a million of cataract blindness by 2026, mostly in the developing world as a part of its mission to combat the prevalence of cataract blindness in the world.
At the district prison, inmates expressed immense happiness in receiving an opportunity to have their sight checked for possible anomalies. Many were found to be suffering from refractive errors, and eleven were identified with cataracts who were in need of immediate intervention. The Tej Kohli and Ruit Foundation, along with the coordination of Fatehbal Eye Hospital, its partner hospital in Nepalgunjn, has been able to complete the nine surgeries, thereby giving them a second chance to sight.
