Seva’s partnership with India’s Aravind Eye Hospital is one of the oldest and most productive in our history. Last year, Aravind hit a huge milestone: they opened their 100th eye care facility! About 90 of these are vision centers.
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Seva Contributes to Groundbreaking Report
As a public health organization that has been active for over 40 years in 20+ countries, Seva has amassed a great deal of information pertaining to the safe and effective delivery of eye care. To bring this knowledge to the forefront, Seva recently sponsored the Lancet Commission Report on Global Eye Health and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness’ Vision Atlas. This groundbreaking new report and research tool provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of eye care and a roadmap for how to proceed in creating a world free of avoidable blindness.
Continue readingRetina Camera Breakthrough
For over four decades, Seva has been on the cutting edge of innovative humanitarian eye care. Today, our AIDS Eye Initiative stands on the cusp of another exciting breakthrough: a camera that can quickly and easily detect blindness-causing infections and life-threatening Tuberculosis in people living with AIDS. Most of these 38 million people live in low and middle income countries with weak health care systems.
Continue readingSOOR AUR SAPTAK Celebrates 10 Years of Music, Dance and Transforming Lives!
On February 27, Indian-American singing group Soor Aur Saptak (SAS) threw their 10th annual benefit concert for Seva! The event, which took place virtually this year, showcases the stunning beauty of Indian music, singing, and dancing. More than a thousand people watched the show. Viewers attended this program from the USA, India, Australia, Canada, Philippines, UAE, Czech Republic, and other places in Europe.
Continue readingRamesh Gets His Sight Back!
Ramesh is a 60-year old daily wage farmer living in Naujheel, a town in the north of India. He earns a total of $6 to $7 per day with which he supports his three sons (all of whom are out-of-work) as well as their children. But a little over a year ago, his vision began to get blurry. Working in the fields became much more difficult, and before long he needed help to perform even basic household tasks. Ramesh didn’t know what to do. He didn’t have money to see a doctor and he needed his sight to make any money.
Continue readingSeva Programs Soar Past their Goals
Even in a year as challenging as 2020, Seva’s programs soared. Between June and December of last year, we supported six new vision centers. Now we’re on track to fund a total of 30 by June 30, 2021 (beating our goal of 13)! Our largest number of these new vision centers are in India; others are located in Nepal, Cambodia, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru. This year also marks our first vision centers in Latin America!
Continue readingAn Investment Program Consistent with Our Values
Seva’s board had long aspired to reflect the values of the organization in its investment portfolio through social screening, not holding the stock of companies deemed objectionable (e.g., fossil fuel, tobacco, etc.). Unfortunately, given our size, a cost-effective socially screened option was not available, and the board decided to invest Seva’s assets in a low-cost passively managed target-risk fund. The purely passive implementation kept costs low but meant that Seva could not eliminate certain objectionable securities from its portfolio holdings.
Continue readingWomen Who Transformed Eye Care
Women have played an integral role in the field of eye care throughout history, from the development of new inventions to creating new models of care, to holding key leadership roles – they are transforming the eye care landscape day after day.
Continue readingSeva Women in Action
“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”
Mother Teresa
One woman alone can create a ripple. When she’s joined by others, she creates a wave that moves the world. We know this because we’ve seen it in action around the world and we see it every day at Seva.
The Executive Director at Seva works diligently to lead the organization with purpose and vision, leaving no stone unturned in our mission to transform lives around the world by restoring sight. The Program Director and Researcher collaborate with partners around the world to implement innovative eye care solutions that address real needs.
Continue readingDr. Larry Brilliant says we can still beat Covid-19 BUT…
“If we think of Covid-19 as a wildfire – and it surely spreads like one – we have failed to extinguish it. We still have fires burning all over the country,” says Dr. Brilliant, a world-renowned epidemiologist.
Dr. Brilliant together with W. Ian Lipkin, Lisa Danzig, and Karen Pak Oppenheimer published an article in the Wall Street Journal today. They discuss what’s to come next for the pandemic with new variants, vaccines, and planning for future public health challenges. The message is clear: We can still beat COVID-19 using many of the strategies leveraged in the past to deal with Smallpox, Ebola, Swine, and other viruses, but we must act fast and in concerted efforts.
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