HOME OF THE TEJ KOHLI MISSION TO END CORNEAL BLINDNESS BY 2035
Tej Kohli founded the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute in 2015 and during the four
years that followed we completed over 43,255 free surgical procedures to
cure and alleviate blindness in some of the world's poorest people.
Led by Tej Kohli and an advisory board comprised of the best minds in science and technology, today we are evolving into a multidisciplinary network for the development of affordable, accessible, scalable solutions.
Tej Kohli has set the objective of eliminating needless corneal blindness by 2035. So we are building a new UK-based research network dedicated to maintaining the cornea in a transparent and healthy state.
Tej Kohli is a believer in the promise of technology to improve human life. As part of not-for-profit Tej Kohli Foundation, we share the Tej Kohli objective to use technology to rebuild people and communities around the world.
BY ENDING CORNEAL BLINDNESS IN POOR COMMUNITIES WE CAN UNLOCK THE POTENTIAL OF EVERY HUMAN BEING
90% of those living with blindness or severe visual impairment live in the poorest countries in the world. Most do not have access to the resources for prevention or cure. Most treatments for corneal blindness are complex and expensive, so it is very difficult to take adequate treatments into the poor communities where poverty blindness is at its most pervasive.
We must develop technological and scientific solutions that are affordable, scalable and accessible in these poorer communities. That's why we are building an interdisciplinary hub of innovation for the development of scientific and technological solutions that can eliminate blindness in poor communities worldwide. Our mission is a world where nobody is blind because they cannot afford or access treatment.
We are bringing together the very best minds to achieve our mission to eliminate poverty blindness worldwide by 2035. We need scientists, technologists, ophthalmologists, doctors, researchers and influencers. Only through the sharing of ideas and the transfer of technologies can we make the connections which will power the new solutions that we are developing.
THE TEJ KOHLI ANNUAL LETTER 2020
As we enter 2020 our dual approach of making direct interventions today whilst also developing novel new treatments and cures for tomorrow continues to change thousands of lives around the world.
Policymakers are constantly seeking ways to improve the well-being of their citizens and to to reduce poverty. It is well recognised that healthcare is vital for well-functioning economies and cohesive societies. Yet in developing countries where resources are scarce, tough choices constantly have to be made among competing social priorities.
Proving the value of curing avoidable poverty-driven blindness to these policy makers has been one of the reasons that the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute made so many interventions into poor communities in India between 2015 and 2019. The 223,404 outpatients that we welcomed and the 43,255 surgical procedures that we delivered to cure and alleviate blindness has transformed the lives of thousands of poor families in India.
Approximately 12 million people in India are currently blind. Worldwide the figure is 39 million with a further 285 million who are visually impaired. 90% of all people with blindness and visual impairment live in poor communities.
2020 will be a pivotal year as the Tej Kohli Foundation and Tej Kohli Cornea Institute refocus our efforts on developing an affordable, scalable and accessible solution for the masses. We can be proud of our achievements since 2015 and our change of focus does not diminish the importance of making direct interventions to change lives. But we must do what is needed in our mission to eradicate corneal blindness by 2035.
-Tej Kohli