MODO, an international eyewear company, has been vital to helping Seva increase access to eye care globally. In 2018, Seva made a commitment to screen one million children and provide all necessary follow-up care by December 2020. This undertaking was supported by Seva’s corporate partner, MODO, and other Seva supporters.
Photo: Pristine 5.0 Retinal Camera (formerly Vistaro) in action.
When you think of “disruptive and revolutionary tech,” what comes to mind?
Major companies, start-ups, a laboratory on the brink of discovery – but what about nonprofits?
You read that right, nonprofits. We know nonprofits don’t often come top of mind as being “disruptive,” but we’re here to paint a new picture. Compassion has always been an important driver of innovation at Seva.
At Seva, we invest in a suite of cutting-edge and revolutionary technologies to create a world free of avoidable blindness. Leveraging millions of data points, four decades of experience, and a network of leading public health experts, engineers, and physicians, our best-in-class tech solutions revolutionize the way eye care is delivered worldwide.
“We operate at the scale of a major corporation and the nimbleness of a start-up. Straddling this balance is disrupting the future of ophthalmology and public health – for good”.
– Kate Moynihan, Executive Director, Seva Foundation.
This is the new frontier of compassion driven eye care tech that you support:
They walk the world as ophthalmologists, technicians, nurses, outreach workers, and more.
In reality, they’re heroes.
It takes a village to end avoidable blindness. Surgeons, health administrators, and so many others are crucial links in a patient’s journey to clear sight. We couldn’t do it without them.
But who are these remarkable folks? We’ve found that the best eye care professionals are right next door – members of the local community who understand what’s needed to provide culturally adept care. With your support, we invest in their world-class training at every single level – from health volunteers to highly skilled ophthalmologists. This ensures that local communities will always have access to eye care, even long after Seva’s direct involvement.
We call them the heroes next door. Meet a few of them and see why.
Together, we hit a major milestone: Over 50 million people, just like Bhoora, have now received Seva-supported eye care services since 1978. People who can go back to school, work, support their families and lead their lives fearlessly – you make this magic possible every day. On behalf of them, our teams, and partners worldwide, thank you!
Science, data, and comprehensive public health solutions work best when coupled with compassion, community, and a little fun. Want to put a stat on this theory? Since 1978, over 50 million people have received eye care services through your support!
Photo: Bhoora Kol with his wife in their mud hut. Photograph by Apurva Shroff
Your support, through the power of sight, brings joy, independence, and freedom to communities worldwide. Bhoora Kol, a 61-year-old lively and jovial man from Madhya Pradesh, India, knows this well. He works diligently as a daily wage laborer on nearby farms, earning less than two dollars a day with just 15 days of employment per month. He lives with his wife in a mud hut, and his four sons and ten grandchildren live nearby in the same village.
Safety and quality of care are at the center of everything we do. Our partner, Dr. Samina Zamindar in Bangalore, India, recently opened the doors of her private practice to welcome 11 colleagues from Seva partner institutes for a series of safety and quality initiatives.
This joint program, called Observe, Understand, and Change, educated hospital teams with practical skills to adopt standard operative procedures to improve quality at a grassroots level, avoid medical errors, and make incident reporting a regular standard in medical settings. Two days of intensive group discussions were followed by three days of observation in their area of interest.
Our recently-published report, entitled ‘The Economic and Social Cost of Blindness in India,’ uncovers the cost of vision impairment and the significant need for sustainable eye care. It also shares the solutions we are pioneering in this country. The key takeaway was that India is home to approximately 34 million people who live with blindness or moderate/severe vision impairment, costing the country US $54.4 billion each year.
We’re part of so many stories. There are those in which we know for sure what role we play and the impact we have on other’s lives and the world – like the role of a mother, father, grandparent, student or teacher. But then there are some stories that we forget we’re a part of. Stories in which we help transform a life. We, here at Seva, wanted to remind you of the difference you make every day. After all, you’re a big part of this story too:
Cast a net, and dream as big and far as you can (and then some!) That’s what Bhagwandeen, from Madhya Pradesh, India, believes in. At 102-years young – the oldest man in his village! – Bhagwandeen loves to live his life with unwavering joy and a sense of adventure.
From the Himalayan mountains to the Amazonian rainforests of Peru, Seva delivers vital eye care to 20+ countries. So pack your virtual bags, and take a trip with us right from your screens to witness the beauty you create in this world.
First Stop BANGLADESH
Since 2006, Seva has worked in Bangladesh to deliver vital eye care, treatment, and resources for those in remote communities. Here, the rate of blindness is nearly 3X that of the United States. Access to eye care is everything.
Earlier this year, we set out to raise funds for 7 new Vision Centers (VC) across the country, matched by a generous family – and we achieved it, together! These new VCs, currently in development, will create immediate access to eye care for 700,000 people in remote areas and will address up to 80% of all of their eye care needs!
Technology allows us to look inequity in the eye and level the playing field. When combined with compassion, it transforms the lives of people thousands of miles away with a simple click of a button.
Sadly, vision impairment continues to rob millions of people every year of a promising future. At Seva we know that this is a solvable public health crisis. 90% of all vision loss is preventable and treatable. Our research validates that investing in eye health improves overall wellbeing, community participation, and economic outlook for families.