primeí people THE STRAITS TIMES WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30 2011 PAGE A12

NOW, THEY CAN SEE

DURING a recent charity mission to on both girls, and their sight returned a Indonesia, Dr Sanduk Ruit and his team day later. restored the sight of some 800 The ability to operate on 800 patients Indonesians. during the eight-day expedition was Among them were sisters Maslia and possible due to a breakthrough technique Nurasni Lubis. called small incision cataract surgery, Maslia, 15, had been blind since she pioneered by Dr Ruit. was three, and 19-year-old Nurasni The surgical technique allows the since she was five. cataract to be removed with just two Cataracts had caused their blindness, small cuts and without the need for a disability that was reversed during a stitches. Sisters Nurasni Lubis (left) and Maslia in eye patches after their operation, and smiling after their sight was restored. The two had been blind since five-minute procedure. Dr Ruit operated CHANG AI-LIEN they were young girls, but can now see again, thanks to Dr Ruit. PHOTOS: COURTESY OF MICHAEL AMENDOLIA THE ST INTERVIEW Asighttobehold

“You have one patient on your left, Eye surgeon wants to one on your right. You work on one, then you can turn around and work on the oth- rid Asia of preventable er,” said the soft-spoken doctor, who grew up in a poor, remote mountain vil- blindness by 2020 lage with a population of 300. With the nearest school an 11-day walk away, he was packed off to boarding school in India when he was eight, and later BY CHANG AI-LIEN trained in ophthalmology in India, Austral- SENIOR ia, the Netherlands and the United States. CORRESPONDENT During a trip to North Sumatra in Indo- nesia earlier this year, each of the 800 pa- tients treated had spent an average of eight years in darkness. EISaone-manwhirlwindre- Yet, their sight was restored after a sponsible for restoring sight simple operation that took mere minutes. to millions of poor people “This usually means that not only can around the world. one person go back to work, usually there Now, Nepalese eye sur- is a carer who is freed up as well,” said Dr Hgeon Sanduk Ruit is taking his skilled Ruit. “Getting your eyesight back is a hands – he has performed more than life-changing event. For some, it means 100,000 cataract operations – to Indone- independence, or the chance to lift them- sia, one of the countries worst hit by cata- selves out of poverty. For others, it may ract blindness. be the first time they have seen the faces Working with a Singapore charity, he of their children.” is leading surgical missions there, and So, Dr Ruit, apart from taking his mo- will also train local doctors and health- bile eye camps to countries such as Viet- care workers. nam, Myanmar, Thailand and North Ko- “My plan is to wipe out preventable rea, has also trained 500 doctors, includ- blindness in Asia by 2020,” said the ing a few Singaporeans, so they can repli- 57-year-old, who has blazed a trail in cate his work. poor countries for close to three decades, Some of them now run large hospitals; giving the gift of sight and training others others take time out to train colleagues or to do the same. volunteer for charity missions, where the His personal target is in line with the mass operations take place. It is this multiplier effect that makes World Health Organisation’s (WHO) goal Nepalese eye surgeon Sanduk Ruit now wants to focus on Indonesia, one of the countries worst hit by cataract blindness. An estimated three million him believe firmly that the goal of eliminat- of eliminating avoidable blindness by to four million people have already benefited from his technique, a cheap, sutureless form of cataract surgery. ST PHOTO: AZIZ HUSSIN ing such blindness is possible. “It is such a 2020. There are an estimated 18 million simple, straightforward and worthy opera- people who are blind from cataracts, ac- tion. Yet, the outcome in terms of life and cording to WHO. This represents almost liberation is tremendous,” he said. half of all causes of blindness. Noting that cataracts generally afflict Acataractisacloudingoftheeye’s FOR almost three decades, Dr Sanduk Among his numerous awards are the those aged 60 and above, he added: “This lens, preventing light from entering. It Ruit has been giving the gift of sight to Doctor of Royal Nepal Academy of Science and is when people could be lonelier, less ac- can be treated effectively through an oper- some of the world’s poorest and Technology annual award, given in tive, and they need their eyes more than ation to replace the lens with an artificial neediest people. the poor recognition of his continuing work for ever. If they become blind, you see them one. However, many people remain blind Known as the doctor of the poor, the people of Nepal and other really crumble, often just sitting in the as they do not have quality eye care or the 57-year-old grew up in a remote modern cataract surgery, as well as developing countries. corner all day and waiting to get fed.” cannot afford an operation. village in Nepal, in the manner of refining techniques to take such He has also received the prestigious Singaporean businessman Tan Ching Dr Ruit’s current focus is on Indone- many of his patients. procedures to poor people living in the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Khoon co-founded a charity with two In- sia, which has more than three million With the nearest school 11 days’ extremely remote areas. International Understanding. donesians last year to support Dr Ruit’s cases of cataract blindness. walk away, his father – a small-time In 1994, he set up the Tilganga In 2007, he was named Asian of the work. Called A New Vision, the organisa- “The idea is to train good people, con- trader – sent him to boarding school in Institute of Ophthalmology, an eye Year by Reader’s Digest, and received tion is helping to fund trips to Indonesia, tinue the model efficiently and become India, where he also completed his hospital comprising a lens laboratory, an honorary appointment as Officer in where the needy are given their opera- self-sustaining,” he said during a recent ophthalmology training. eye bank and surgical centre that has the Order of Australia by the country’s tions for free, and aims to eliminate such stopover in Singapore, where he was invit- Then in Australia, he learnt the since screened more than 1.5 million governor-general. blindness in the country. ed to speak about his procedure. techniques of modern cataract surgery people and performed well over He is married to Nanda, 49, a Noting that more than three million In- “My main focus for the next two to from his mentor Dr Fred Hollows, a 74,000 operations. housewife. Their 21-year-old son is donesians are now blind due to cataracts, three years is Indonesia, and then I will skilled ophthalmologist and famous He, himself, has restored sight to studying medicine, while their older but that only about 80,000 such opera- move on to the next spot.” humanitarian. around 100,000 people, and trained daughter, 19, is studying management. tions are done each year, Mr Tan said: Besides personally supervising mis- Dr Ruit returned to Nepal in 1989 thousands of eye health workers from Their 15-year-old daughter is in “At this rate, it will take 37.5 years to sions to Indonesia, he will be leading ef- and began training local doctors in around the world. secondary school. clear the cataract backlog in Indonesia.” forts to train some 50 eye doctors. Some While the charity has pledged to contin- have already completed a training stint at ue to fund such missions until the backlog the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology is cleared, Mr Tan stresses that the long- in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, where Dr mandu to manufacture intraocular lens high-volume and low-budget operations. Tibet or the deserts of northern Africa. term solution lies in training local doctors. Ruit is medical director. implants for a few dollars each. They And the production line efficiency has The procedure takes around five min- The charity is hoping that medical per- Founded in 1994, the centre is a would cost more than $100 to import. in no way compromised safety. utes and involves washing the eye to pre- sonnel such as ophthalmologists and para- “first-world facility in a third-world The ripple effect has been overwhelm- Success rates are comparable with vent infection, applying local anaesthetic medics will step forward to volunteer. country”. It treats 2,500 patients a week, ing. An estimated three million to four state-of-the-art surgery, said Dr Ruit, and removing the clouded lens through a and also conducts training sessions for million people have already benefited and over the years, it has proven to work tiny cut on the side of the eyeball. Final- [email protected] doctors from around the world. from his technique: A cheap, sutureless well beyond sterile hospital walls and in ly, a plastic intraocular lens is inserted in- Those who would like to volunteer or donate to Dr Ruit also set up a laboratory in Kath- form of cataract surgery that allows safe, environments such as the mountains of to the cavity. the charity should contact [email protected]

í What made you choose curing cataract blindness? blindness as your cause? In Singapore, cataract is picked up and It takes just minutes to do the cataract Q&A: Curing blindness, changing lives treated early. We are working with operation, but it changes so much in a young Singaporean doctors who are person’s life. There was one woman in after herself well and running a small community. You need special systems, it our work was considered poor man’s coming to Nepal so we can share our her 60s I operated on who was a vegetable grocery. This is the has to be cost effective, and the surgical surgery. Now, there is a little bit of knowledge with them. To carry out the destitute beggar in a town near significance of our work. techniques have to be less dependent on respect. plan of wiping out preventable blindness Darjeeling in India. Everyone thought technology. Despite dealing with large in Asia by 2020, we need resources, she was mad. She went around shouting volumes of patients, you can’t government cooperation and lots of at everybody, peeing in the streets. After í How is working in the field different? compromise on quality. We have proven í Apart from contributing to the local Singapore eye doctors and health-care the surgery, she became a different What you can do in a hospital setting that our success rate is comparable to charity A New Vision, how else can people workers to volunteer. We are working person. The last I heard, she was looking cannot be translated into the state-of-the-art surgery. In the past, in Singapore play a part in combating with hospitals here to do so.