Eye care 'twin-track' approach
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© CBM / Grossmann
A client at the EREC-P eye care Project, Lahan
The Eastern Regional Eye Care Programme (EREC-P) in South-East Nepal was developed in co-operation with Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh (NNJS), the Social Welfare Council of Nepal and CBM.
Structure of EREC-P
EREC-P is comprised of:
Sagarmatha Choudhary Eye Hospital (SCEH) in Lahan, which has been constantly growing throughout the past 27 years, and Biratnagar Eye Hospital (BEH) in Biratnagar, started in September 2006, a further development of Sagarmatha Choudhary Eye Hospital (SCEH), Lahan. Here, in 2004, Dr Albrecht Hennig and his team performed more than 48,000 cataract operations.
With the combination of the two eye hospitals (SCEH and BEH) along with several satellite clinics (EREC-P) is a high volume treatment programme, which provides high quality comprehensive eye services at a cost affordable to a huge population in eastern Nepal and northern India.
The excellent eye services and their affordability have a remarkable impact on the improvement of the quality of life and economic situation of reversibly blind persons and those at risk of blindness.
Treatment is not the only goal. Healthcare education in the villages, focussing on the role of nutrition and Community-based rehabilitation for those who cannot be operated on plays just as important a role. Among the subjects taught are mobility, Braille and mainstreaming education.
Financial support
In addition to CBM as donor agency the following organisations are also sponsoring the Eastern Regional Eye Care Programme:
- European Commission (EC) The EC is supporting the Eastern Regional Eye Care Programme for four years (2008-2011) for “Improving the Quality of Life of Vulnerable Target Groups in the Eastern Region of Nepal by Improving Eye Care and Sight Restoration”.
- Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) SCB is supporting the Eastern Regional Eye Care Programme for four years (2009-2012) through its Seeing is Believing (SiB) Programme in order to strengthen the eye care service delivery in eastern Nepal and significantly reduce the prevalence of blindness in Eastern Nepal, thus improving the quality of life and economic situation of reversibly blind persons and those at risk of blindness.
The initiative brings together CBM donors and the Partner organisations Social Welfare Council and Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh, the European Commission, Standard Chartered Bank, German Donor initiatives and the local community.
