Photo (left to right): Dr. Gary Barth, Jack Blanks, & Gary Hahn in Myanmar.

Among the many innovative activities of Seva Foundation, the Board has emphasized bringing ophthalmic services to rural communities.

These clinics are called Primary Eye Care Clinics since they provide refractions, ocular first aid, and glasses fabrication/dispensing. They are linked to “Secondary Eye Care Hospitals, ” which can perform excellent free cataract surgery.

When Jack Blanks retired after seven years as Seva Foundation Executive Director, Seva Board Members Gary Hahn and I joined forces. We wanted to continue to create more PECCs and support the outstanding surgeons we met through our work with Seva Foundation.

We strongly believe in this model. In many countries in Southeast Asia, Africa, and South America, we have seen an enormous increase in the number of cataract-blind people who now have access to excellent cataract surgery.

When I transitioned off the Board of Seva Foundation, we created the private foundation BBH Eye Foundation(501(c)(3) to concentrate on areas we knew would most benefit from creating Primary Eye Care Clinics linked to Secondary Eye Care Hospitals.

I am thrilled to have founded BBH Eye Foundation, because we can focus on equipment and supplies without worrying about national governmental hindrances. Too often, the country’s medical rules make no sense from our Western perspective.

For example:
In Nepal, trained and certified ophthalmic assistants can prescribe glasses and topical antibiotics without a physician. BBH has fully equipped 25 Primary Eye Care Centers with ophthalmic assistants in Western Nepal (see map).

In Bangladesh, BBH Eye Foundation spent an extra $4,000 to set up a telemedicine unit in a primary care eye clinic we opened.

The equally well-trained assistant had to establish a direct internet connection with a physician in the city to have them officially prescribe glasses or eye medications.

In Northwest Bangladesh, Nepal and Bangladesh are only 16 miles apart.

To maximize donor money, we continue working with municipalities in Nepal, where our funding can reach more patients handicapped by dense cataracts.

Support Dr. Gary Barth’s philanthropic efforts and restore sight to people in need. Learn more here. https://www.bbheye.org/