HOME OF THE TEJ KOHLI
MISSION TO ALLEVIATE
AND CURE CORNEAL
BLINDNESS. OVER 43,255
SURGICAL PROCEDURES
COMPLETED SINCE 2015
TEJ KOHLI FOUNDED THE TEJ KOHLI CORNEA INSTITUTE IN 2015 BECAUSE NEARLY 90% OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH AVOIDABLE OR CURABLE CORNEAL BLINDNESS LIVE IN THE POOREST COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD. BY ENDING CORNEAL BLINDNESS WITHIN THESE COMMUNITIES WE CAN UNLOCK THE POTENTIAL OF EVERY HUMAN BEING
SINCE 2015 WE HAVE WELCOMED 223,404 OUTPATIENTS AND COMPLETED 43,255 FREE SURGICAL PROCEDURES TO CURE AND ALLEVIATE BLINDNESS IN SOME OF THE WORLD'S POOREST COMMUNITIES.
A PART OF THE NOT-FOR-PROFIT TEJ KOHLI FOUNDATION, TODAY WE ARE LED BY THE BEST MINDS IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AS WE SEEK TO DEVELOP AN AFFORDABLE, SCALABLE AND ACCESSIBLE WAY TO END CORNEAL BLINDNESS IN POOR COMMUNITIES.
THE TEJ KOHLI ANNUAL LETTER (2021)
As we enter 2021 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. My hope is that one day we can help millions more thanks to initiatives like the Tej Kohli Cornea Program.
2020 was a pivotal year as the Tej Kohli Foundation and Tej Kohli Cornea Institute refocused our collective efforts onto developing an affordable and accessible solution to blindness that will be scalable for the masses. As I said in my 2020 letter, this change of focus does not diminish the importance of making direct treatment interventions to change lives, and we can remain proud of our achievements since 2015. But we must evolve if we are to eradicate corneal blindness by 2035.
It is well recognised that healthcare is vital for well-functioning economies and cohesive societies. Policymakers are constantly seeking ways to improve the well-being of their citizens and to to reduce poverty. 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 was one of the reasons that the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute made so many interventions into poor communities in India between 2015 and 2019.
During 2021 my hope is that we will prove the value of something else that both the public and private sector can be a part of: technology transfer. It is not enough simply to underwrite the production of new medicines and technologies - we must also transfer the knowledge of how to do this into the poorer countries where these solutions are needed the most.
That will take many forms and we cannot do it alone. We will need to train local teams, connect with local people, build community eye hospitals and then empower that infrastructure with the technologies and medicines that they need to be effective. And despite the enormity of the challenge we will need to have the tenacity to tackle it one day at a time whilst also being efficient with our resources.