Many people who are blighted by blindness and other ophthalmic issues are prevented from participating in society. For many it means being cast out due to their lack of ability to contribute financially. We must not allow this to continue in the 21st century. It is our duty to step in and support with passion, pride, hard work and our guarantee of a financial commitment.
Tej Kohli, TKCI Founder
We are proud of our longstanding history and global reputation in the area of ophthalmology. We now have a vital opportunity to extend our work as new technologies can be implemented to help in reducing corneal blindness. We hope to enhance our activities significantly and continue to develop a Global Resource Centre for corneal blindness. We will increase the number of surgeries we undertake and work towards our own goal of eliminating avoidable blindness.
Dr Gullapalli N Rao, LVPEI Founder
There is an estimated 23 million individuals worldwide who have unilateral corneal blindness while 4.9 million are bilaterally blind. Corneal blindness may be treated by donor cornea transplantation but there is a severe shortage: 53% of the global population has no access to human donor corneas. The efforts of the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute, a partnership with the LV Prasad Eye Institute, to eliminate cornea blindness range from community health and prevention, expansion of eye banking efforts and quality medical care, all the way to the development of regenerative new biotechnologies.
