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.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis is an eye infection that commonly affects people with compromised immune systems, such as AIDS patients. It can lead to irreversible vision loss, and may even shorten a person’s lifespan. If detected early and diagnosed quickly, it can be treated. In resource-limited countries like those that Seva serves, however, CMV retinitis often remains undiagnosed until it is too late to save the patient’s sight or life.

That’s where Seva’s brand-new camera comes into play. The device is small, light-weight, durable, has excellent battery life – and, perhaps most importantly, is easy to use! In just a few minutes’ time, frontline HIV/AIDS medical workers will be able to easily diagnose CMV retinitis, as well as tuberculosis, while giving their patients routine checkups.

Designing a camera that is cost-effective, durable, capable of taking high-quality images, and easy to use is no small task. But Dr.Suzanne Gilbert, Seva’s Senior Director for Research and Strategic Opportunities and the Seva team, working with Remidio Innovative Solutions, have pulled out all the stops to make this dream a reality – and now we are closer to it than ever. We have developed a prototype that is already in beta testing. If all goes well, our camera will be in the production phase in a matter of months. If successfully integrated into HIV/AIDS programs worldwide, it could help reduce AIDS-related blindness by half, and save up to 70,000 lives per year!

Stay tuned to Seva Foundation on social media to get updates on the development process for our game-changing camera!