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The Himalayan Cataract Project (HCP) was created in 1994 by Dr. Geoffrey Tabin and Dr. Sanduk Ruit with a goal of establishing a sustainable eye care infrastructure in the Himalaya. HCP empowers local doctors to provide ophthalmic care through skills-transfer and education. From its beginning, HCP responds to a pressing need for eye care in the Himalayan region. With programs in Nepal, Tibet, China, Bhutan, India, Sikkim, and Pakistan they have been able to restore sight to tens of thousands of blind people every year since 1994.〔()〕 In addition, HCP's assistance has been requested for a pilot study on eye care services in twelve Millennium Research Villages in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Millennium Villages Project was established in part to prove that successful implementation of the UN Millennium Development Goals is possible in the poorest, most underserved areas of the developing world. HCP has agreed to provide comprehensive eye care in each of the Villages (5,000 per village) and to demonstrate that the costs of these services will fit within the complex U.N. Health Budget for the Millennium Villages Project. So far, interventions have taken place in Uganda, Ethiopia, and Ghana with effective delivery of interventions such as cataract surgeries, refraction and distribution of glasses. == Background == According to WHO estimates, the most common causes of blindness around the world in 2002 were: # cataracts (47.9%), # glaucoma (12.3%), # age-related macular degeneration (8.7%), # corneal opacity (5.1%), and # diabetic retinopathy (4.8%), # childhood blindness (3.9%), # trachoma (3.6%) # onchocerciasis (0.8%).〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Causes of blindness and visual impairment )〕 Suffering from blindness affects not only the blind person but also members of his/her family. Where there are few paved roads and where terrain is rugged and mountainous, a blind person has incredible difficulty moving around and depends on a caretaker. There are no social services available to the blind, and individuals who are blind cannot contribute to family income. A blind person, unable to care for themselves in such a harsh environment requires a help of a family member, which essentially takes two people out of being able to contribute to family income, or community life. With sight restored, many patients would be able to return to work and to traditional roles in their families and societies. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Himalayan Cataract Project」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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