MANAMA, FEBRUARY 21

Renowned Nepali Ophthalmologist Dr Sanduk Ruit today received Bahrain's top civilian award for developing highly affordable and sustainable ways to cure cataracts throughout the developing world.

Amidst a grand programme at Isa Cultural Centre in Manama, Bahrain's monarch Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa handed the Isa Award for Service to Humanity to Dr Ruit. The award, which was announced here on January 17, carries a US$1m cash prize, a gold medal and a certificate of merit.

Dr Ruit has been recognised for his service to the community and professional achievements with the fifth edition of the Isa Award for Service to Humanity, the King said. 'It is a pleasure to congratulate him on this well-deserved recognition of his valuable and influential works that have made him the most worthy recipient of this award,' he added.

Among 139 applicants, five were shortlisted to compete for the award as per the evaluation made by a seven-member jury, led by Professor Jan Paulson of the University of Miami. The board of trustees for the award, which assessed the work of the five finalists, considered the findings of the field research team's visits and decided that Dr Ruit's work is worthy of the Isa Award in its fifth session because of the originality of his efforts and his success, which is closer to the spirit of the criteria specified for presenting the award than the works of the other nominees including Geneva-based World Health Organisation Foundation and US-based charity Mercy Ship.

Dr Ruit was able to save the sight of almost 120,000 people who would have otherwise gone blind. Dr Ruit, Executive Director of Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology, also performed more than 50,000 eye surgeries and procedures at no charge to those who otherwise couldn't afford them over the last 30 years.

Known by different titles such as 'the barefoot surgeon' and the 'God of Sight', Dr Ruit has created a sustainable way to produce intraocular lenses, allowing him to complete cataract surgery in significantly less time while cataracts can be surgically removed through tiny incisions in as little as five minutes, and replaced with an inexpensive artificial lens. Dr Ruit started a lens factory in Kathmandu which lowered the cost of lenses from around $200 to just US$4 – this resulted in developing countries having a sufficient and sustainable eye care model.

After receiving the highest honour of his three-decade-long career, Dr Ruit said that the award recognised the role of Nepalis in the world platform. 'It's a pride moment for the nation,' he said, adding that this award would further inspire serious humanitarian work being done in different parts of the world irrespective of their political, social, geographical and economic connectivity.

Dr Ruit, winner of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay award in 2006, also co-founded the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation with a mission to cure half a million people of needless blindness in the developing world by 2030. He received the 'Prince Mahidol Award for Public Health' in 2007. The Government of Australia conferred on him 'The Order of Australia' in 2007. In 2014, he was awarded Social Entrepreneur of the Year by the Schwab Foundation. In 2016, he was awarded the 'Asian Game Changer Award' by the Asia Society of New York. In 2017, he was picked by the Albert Einstein Foundation as one of the 'Hundred Leading Global Visionaries of the Century.'

According to the organiser, in honour of the legacy of his great father, Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, established the Isa Award for Service to Humanity in 2009 to raise public awareness of the remarkable humanitarian efforts taking place all around the world, as well as to encourage and motivate more individuals to take part in such efforts.

The Award has previously been granted to Jemilah Mahmoud, the founder of the Malaysian Medical Relief Society (MERCY Malaysia), Dr Achyuta Samanta, the founder of India's Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences and the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, the Children's Cancer Hospital Foundation in the Arab Republic of Egypt, and the EDHI Foundation of Pakistan.