Cataract Chronicles-25 years
As I celebrate my 25th year volunteering as an eye surgeon in Southeast Asia. I am delighted to share photos and stories about the vision challenges and the people and cultures of India, Nepal, Cambodia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Vietnam. - Dr. Gary Barth
Chronicle 6 - Emphasizing Primary Eye Care Clinics PECC & Founding the BBH Eye Foundation
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.
Photo (left to right): Dr. Gary Barth, Jack Blanks, & Gary Hahn in Myanmar.