Eye Care Foundation receives royal awards in Cambodia
CEO of Eye Care Foundation, Björn Stenvers was awarded the prestigious Royal Order of Monisaraphon by King Norodom Sihamoni on October 6.
The Knight Commander class award was bestowed in recognition of the work of the Eye Care Foundation (ECF) over the developing of the Kingdom’s Eye Care ever since 1996.
World Sight Day 2022
On the occasion of World Sight Day, Cambodia wants to invigorate the urgency of Eye Care by awarding the 3 CEO’s of the Eye Care I-NGO’s active in Cambodia. In their name their organisations and colleagues are being honoured. The CEO’s and their organisations committed to the development on the strategic roadmap for Blindness Prevention and Control 2021-2030 in Cambodia. ECF is proud to also have a solid affiliation with the University of Health Sciences in Cambodia and supporting the Ophthalmology Residence Training. To commemorate World Sight Day, the Cambodian team of Eye Care Foundation received Royal recognition. Mr. Sambath Pol received the Knight Commander class, Mrs. Ouk Somuny and Mr. Horm Piseth both became Chevalier.
The Eye Care Foundation began working in Cambodia in 1996 as the Mekong Eye Doctors working in Stung Treng and Kratie provinces, before joining forces with Eye care Worldwide (founded 1984) on 1st of July 2008 to form the current organisation Eye Care Foundation (ECF). ECF is currently active in Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Nepal and Vietnam), Africa (Tanzania, Rwanda) and Latin-America (Suriname, Ecuador) where they support projects to contribute to ending avoidable blindness and vision impairment.
Eye care needs attention!
Eye care is more important than ever before. The figures from the World Health Organization WHO, and the International Agency for Blindness Prevention (IAPB) tell us why:
– 1.1 billion people live with loss of face because there is no access to care
– 91 million children lose face because they have no access to eye care
– 55% of people with loss of face are women and girls
– $411 billion is what is costing the global economy losing face!
No less than 90% can simply be remedied.
In developing countries, blindness leads to major economic and social problems. Blind people are usually unable to work themselves and are dependent on family members and friends. 80% is preventable or curable. Cataract surgery or the fitting of glasses gives them a view of a future again. They can go back to school, work or take care of their children and grandchildren. In short they can pick up their full potential in life again.