Meeting A Global Need
Our primary mission is supporting cost-effective cataract surgical intervention in the developing world, where a blind man, woman or child will see once again for just $20. We can do this because of strategic partnerships with indigenous medical facilities and professionals, and direct access to low-cost yet high-quality intra-ocular lenses. In 1992, we were proud to have a primary role in the creation of Aurolab, the manufacturing division of the Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai, India, and today the source of all of our ophthalmic consumables.
In 1987, we recognized the need to help prevent blindness in young children in India who were suffering from Vitamin A deficiency. We offered free screenings and supplied nutritional supplements to children in rural eye camps, and helped families intergrate green, leafy vegetables that contribute to good eye health into their diets.
Since 1995, we've partnered with the University of Wisconsin's UW Health and its free community eye care clinics in Madison, Wisconsin. Through these clinics – which we hope to extend to other U.S. communities – the needy right outside of our door now have the opportunity to regain sight lost due to cataracts and other eye diseases.
Finally, building on our knowledge in all of these ventures, we've helped create sustainable vision and community surgical centers in parts of the world where proper eye care is simply not available. We've also supported training programs for indigineous vision technicians and paramedical personnel. By replicating these successful programs wherever there is need, we will help developing countries provide their own long-term, equitable solutions to rampant blindness.
Across The Continents
Africa
Kikyu eye camp (Nairobi, Kenya)
- Partnered with Lion's Club International
- Surgeries involved phacoemulsification, a surgical technique where cataracts are fragmented with ultrasound waves and removed through a small incision
- Funded 80 cataract surgeries in 1997
Lion's Sight Eye Hospital (Nairobi, Kenya)
- Mobile eye care facilities allow eye care outreach to rural areas
- Purchased a van to allow Lion's Club personnel to bring patients to the hospital from rural areas
- Funded 6,368 cataract surgeries since 2006
Mahatma Ghandi Hospital (Durban, South Africa)
- Part of the KwaZulu-Natal Eye Care Coalition
- Provided the facility with funds for a Phaco machine in 2008
- Funded 196 cataract surgeries since 2008
Sheik Zyed Regional Eye Care Center (Kenifing, Gambia)
- Started funding the purchase of intraocular lenses and other medical equipment in 2008
- Partners with Dr. Umang Mathur of Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital in India, who has had UW (University of Wisconsin) Health doctors learn about surgeries in rural developing countries
Grootfontein District Hospital (Grootfontein, Namibia)
- Purchased intraocular lenses and medical equipment for surgeries in 2011
East Asia
Philippines Free Eye Care Clinic (San Fabian, Philippines)
- Partnered with Dr. Gil DeVinicia of the University of Wisconsin
- Provided 1,423 intraocular lenses and cataract kits for cataract surgeries since 2003
India
King George's Medical College (Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh)
- First of CBF's projects
- Four eye camps in 1986
- Funded 12,458 cataract surgeries since 1986
Sitapur Eye Hospital (Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh)
- Located 80 miles from Lucknow
- Site of first Children's Malnutrition Project in 1987
- Funded 45,802 cataract surgeries since 1987
Aravind Eye Hospital (Madurai, Tamil Nadu)
- Funded 36,171 cataract surgeries from 1991-2002
- Played the primary role in the building of Aurolab, a manufacturer of low-cost intraocular lenses (starting in 1992) and eye surgery sutures (starting in 1997)
- Continues supporting Aurolab through purchases of all intraocular lenses and sutures
- Promotes the Aravind model for sustainable nonprofit eye care hospitals
Hyderbad (L.V. Prasad) Eye Institute (Hyderbad, Andhra Pradesh)
- Funded the operating of equipment for four outreach programs in 1997
- Funded 7,694 cataract surgeries from 1997-2002
Terabai Desai Eye Hospital (Jodhpur, Rajasthan)
- Funded 10,427 cataract surgeries since 2001
- Discussing diabetic retinopathy partnerships
Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital (New Delhi)
- Located 366 miles east of Jodhpur
- Funded 8,982 cataract surgeries since 2001 In Delhi and, since 2007, at the hospital's branch in Alwar, Rajasthan
- Sponsored the start of a community outreach center and sustainable eye care facility in Rampur (Uttar Pradesh) which allowed SCEH to provide quality eye care via mobile units and cataract surgery in local facilities (funding completed in 2010)
Bombay eye camp (Bombay/Mumbai, Maharashira)
- Partnered with the Bombay Rotary Club
- Funded 499 cataract surgeries in 2001
Sankara Nethralaya (Chennai/Madras, Tamil Nadu)
- Partnered with the medical research foundation Sankara Nethralaya
- Funded 1,020 cataract surgeries in 2001
Children's Health and Welfare Hospital (Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh)
- Partnered with the Children's Health and Welfare Foundation (United States)
- Funded 261 cataract surgeries since 2002
Jamshedpur Ladies Association eye camp (Jamshedpur, Jharkhand)
- Funded 250 cataract surgeries in 2003
Karoti eye camp (Karoti, Maharashtra)
- 30 miles from Mumbai (formerly Bombay)
- Funded 250 cataract surgeries in 2003
Shree Jalaram Arogya Seva Trust Hospital (Meghraj, Gujarat)
- First Gujarat eye camp in 2005 in the very poor Sabarkanta District near the border of Rajasthan
- Matching funds program in 2006 led to the creation of an eye department in the hospital
- Funded 3,862 cataract surgeries at all six Gujarat project sites (see below) since 2006
- Gujarat Children's Malnutrition Project started here is keeping hundreds of boys and girls off the fast track to xerophthalmia-related blindness
Ravishankarmaharaj Eye Hospital (Chickodra, Gujarat)
- Cataract and malnutrition work
Bhavnagar Eye Clinic (Bhavnagar, Gujarat)
- Located near the Arabian Sea and a largely illiterate community that includes a large population of people afflicted with leprosy.
Lions Club Zarola Eye Hospital (Sankheda, Gujarat)
- Increased the number of cataract surgeries at this hospital by 33 percent
- Cataract and malnutrition work
Sewa Rural Hospital (Jhagadia, Gujarat)
- Hospital operates in collaboration with the Lions Club
- Located 60 miles from Vadodra
Krishna Hospital and Karamsad Medical School (Karamsad, Gujarat)
- Affiliated with a medical school and a training program for ophthalmologists
Usha Kiran Eye Hospital (Mysore, Karnataka)
- Funded 7,546 cataract surgeries since 2006
Bhubaneswar (L.V. Prasad) Eye Institute (Bhubaneswar, Orissa)
- Sponsored the Community Comprehensive Eye Care Center to support the outreach activities of this new (2006) institute
- Provided a van to transport patients to the facility
- Funded 2,864 cataract surgeries since 2007
- Funded ISEE Project that provided scholarships to local students for paramedical training in 2009-2011 after which they will be employed in vision or community surgical centers
- Sponsored the start of a community outreach center and sustainable eye care facility modeled after the facility in Rampur (see Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital) with a target date for full funding of 2015
Ayodhya Eye Hospital (Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh)
- Serves the Faizabad District and seven other nearby rural districts in Uttar Pradesh
- Funded 4,372 cataract surgeries since 2007
Middle East
Meiki Family Clinic (Lebanon)
- Intraocular lenses to be provided starting in late 2011
North America
Free Community Eye Care Clinics (USA)
- Free Community Eye Care Clinics (Madison, Wisconsin, USA)
- Partner with the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and StyleEyes Optical at UW Health
- Funds a portion of the free primary and secondary eye care provided to disadvantaged people of Dane County
- Funded services for hundreds of patients since 1995
- New patients need to be referred through one of a number of participating Madison-area social service agenices by calling the CBF office at (608) 238-7777
South America
Fundacion Vision (Asuncion, Paraguay)
- Partners with Dr. Chris Croasdale of the University of Wisconsin
- Provides intraocular lenses and cataract kits for cataract surgeries
- Provided materials for 805 surgeries since 2010
Future project: Peru
- Slated to start in 2012
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Our History
2011
Combat Blindness Foundation becomes Combat Blindness International (CBI).
2009
Combat Blindness Foundation (CBF) celebrates 25 years of work in returning sight to the blind.
2008
A year of growth on three continents includes collaborations with the L.V. Prasad Eye Institute in Bhubaneshwar, India, and eye camps in both Gambia, Africa, and Paraguay, South America.
2007
CBF holds its first Sight Walk in Madison, Wisconsin, to raise awareness of avoidable blindness.
2006
Local eye care projects start in three African facilities: the Lions Club Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya; the Nkonjeni Hospital in Ulunidi, South Africa; and the Mahatma Gandhi Hospital in Durban, South Africa. In India, the work continues to grow as CBF connects with the Usha Kiran Eye Hospital in Mysore, Karnataka.
2005
The first World Sight Day coincides with CBF's celebration of 20 years restoring sight to those without access to, or the ability to pay for, eye care.
2004
CBF becomes a charter member of VISION 2020: The Right to Sight, a global coalition including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB).
2002
In collaboration with the Blind Relief & Health Association, CBF establishes its Gujarat Project in the Sabarkanta District of Gujarat in India.
2001
CBF opens talks with Dr. Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital in New Delhi, India and starts supporting the Terabai Desai Eye Hospital in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India.
1999
Dr. Suresh Chandra and CBF begins a mentoring relationship with SAIVA (Students Action for India's Volunteerism and Aid), a student service organization at the University of Wisconsin- Madison.
1997
CBF begins collaborating with the L.V. Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderbad, Andhra Pradesh, India. It also supports the creation of a suture factory at Aurolab, now in its fifth year at Aravind Eye Systems in Madurai.
1995
Partnering with the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, and its umbrella organization, UW Health, CBF starts supporting free community eye care clinics in Madison, Wisconsin.
1992
CBF helps create Aurolab at the Aravind Eye Hospital. As a result, the facility starts producing quality intraocular lens and providing them at cost to non-profit organizations in 120 developing countries.
1991
The work moves into southern India as a partnership starts between CBF and the Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.
1987
The first two-year Xerophthalmia Project launches in collaboration with the Sitapur Eye Hospital in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh, India.
1985
CBF sponsors its first four eye camps at King George's Medical College (KGMC) in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. Volunteer medical personnel provide eye care to 1,328 patients and cataract surgery to 319 patients.
1984
The Combat Blindness Foundation (CBF) is established and based in Madison, Wisconsin.
