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Dr. Sanduk Ruit for CNN HEROES 2011

Mar 25, 2011 8 comments
There is an annual television show CNN HEROES created by CNN to honor individuals who make extraordinary contributions to help others.

Dr. Sanduk Ruit, a Nepalese eye surgeon has been nominated for CNN Heroes 2011. He is the man who devised the cheapest eye cataract surgery making it extremely affordable even for low income  It's his humanitarian instinct, he sets up camp in remote villages and service unselfishly.  We're living in a world with war and corruptions sometimes we feel there is no hope and humanity, but it makes us sigh with relief that there are people like Dr. Sanduk Ruit whose unprecedented effort and altruistic behavior to help others in societies help us think there are still some humanity left on us.

CNN's annual show to recognize social workers and awarding them is indeed applaudable. Here is our chance to honor this guy one more time.

Lets vote for him, not just because I'm a Nepalese or him, but for his globally contributed philanthropic services.

I personally hope this will motivate each and one of us to be a kind and compassionate human being.

Biography


Early life and education


Ruit was born in 1955 to uneducated parents in the remote Olangchungola Pass in Taplejung District of northeast Nepal, a mountain area of Nepal so poor and remote that the nearest school was eleven days away by foot[2] However, his father, a small time businessman, placed a priority on providing education to his children, and sent Dr Ruit to St Robert’s School in Darjeeling for studies and also provided financial support in his early medical career.

Ruit's childhood dream was that of becoming a pilot during his schooldays. But knowing the death of his elder brother before his birth was due to diarrhea, and being with his younger sister when she died of tuberculosis in 1964, and suffering the loss of another younger sister of pneumonia all worked to changed his heart. "That pinched my heart and I decided to become a doctor,” the eyesight specialist stated.

In 1969 Dr Ruit received his School Leaving Certificate from Siddhartha Vanasthali School in Kathmandu, Nepal, and later was educated in India beginning in 1981 at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, and also studied in the Netherlands, Australia and the United States, and was mentored by an Australian Professor, Dr. Fred Hollows.
Major works


In 1986, Ruit and Hollows developed a strategy to use small-incision cataract surgery (SICS) in the developing world at the community level, through the use of a low-cost intraocular lens (IOL). Dr. Ruit was the first Nepali doctor to use IOLs in cataract surgery.

However, the high cost of IOLs placed them out of reach for many poor cataract patients, and Ruit started looking for alternatives to reduce the cost of IOLs. In 1995 he devised an international standard IOL that could be produced for far less than those manufactured in developed countries. The cost of IOLs that was around US$ 100, has now been reduced to US$ 3.5.
Vision


Ruit joined with a few people who shared his vision to start the Tilganga Eye Center [3] on June 7, 1994, but due to opposition by the establishment who considered the technique too risky, they virtually operated underground for six months. His efficient model of eye care is now practiced in many parts of the world, with U.S. military surgeons being scheduled to be trained under Dr. Ruit as well.
Ruit is passionate about being able to do much good for so many people in a short time and see the results, and while the work is technically very demanding he stated that he loves microsurgery very much. Ruit also credits his wife, an ophthalmic nurse whom he married in 1987, as being a pillar of strength to him in his difficult days while pursuing his dream project of Tilganga.
 
Media

A National Geographic documentary Inside North Korea on Dr. Ruit's work therein was remarkable not only in being able to document his successful surgery in the highly controlled country, but the overt adulation given to Kim Jong-il by the patients as a result.

Awards


On 18 May 2007, Ruit was appointed an Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia, "for service to humanity by establishing eye care services in Nepal and surrounding countries, and for his work in teaching and training surgeons, and technical innovation".

June 2006, Dr. Ruit was awarded with the Ramon Magsaysay Award.

Comments

Ashish said…
Wow my eye doctor. He is the only one who has ever examined my eyes.
Dr.Rui, really you are a great man who devised the cheapest eye cataract surgery making it extremely affordable even for low income. Really, you are doing a great job. I really appreciate your work. Keep doing such a great job. Thanks for sharing this post.
pramila limbu said…
Dr. Sanduk, you are really a HERO. I really appreciate your work. keep it up.....!!!
Anonymous said…
sir, your remarkable contribution is innovative for all the people ....all the best for your upcoming work and life..
Yashoda karki said…
Dr. Ruit is the one who deserves the honour of CNN Hero 2011. he is the one among so many persons who have contributed a lot for the betterment of poor nepalese... I really appreciate everybody to help him to get the title of CNN Hero 2011... And i wish him to put the name of Nepal at the Apex...
Wish u all the best !!!
Anonymous said…
like others said.... I also very appreciate with your work..yeah!!! you are the real HERO....keep doing this further....good luck...
Anonymous said…
I really appreciate your work. keep doing it further future's too Dr.Ruit.....Yeah!!!! you are a real HERO.........
Dr.Ruit,

Firstly, I need to thank the Al-Mighty for sending a hero,a savior,a brave heart man,kind,sensible person like you to the needs for the mankind...i was watching the BBC documentary and i felt i need to pause my dvd,thank you for the great help you have done to these mountain people and hope we will have more kind heart people in this generations that will do this Godly wonderful task that you are doing to save/cure the men best given treasure which is the eye sight..thank you Doctor, i will pray for your happiness for here and here-after...again Thank you..may God bless you

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