Seva Foundation Recognizes Paul Courtright and Susan Lewallen for Their Commitment to Blindness ...( Doctors who founded a state-of-th...),Health

Doctors who founded a state-of-the-art eye care facility in Tanzania to be honored with 2008 International Blindness Prevention Award

BERKELEY, Calif., Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Seva Foundation proudly honors the accomplishments of two pioneering leaders in the fight against preventable blindness around the world -- Dr. Paul Courtright and Dr. Susan Lewallen.

Yesterday, the Kilimanjaro Center for Community Ophthalmology (KCCO), which Courtright and Lewallen established in 2001, opened its new three-story, 25,700 square-foot training center in Tanzania, at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The center focuses on training, research and program development using local talent and skills, aimed at decreasing blindness across eastern Africa.

"In a relatively short time, KCCO has grown to be the most active center dedicated to community ophthalmology in Africa, with trainees coming from countries across the continent," said Dr. Suzanne Gilbert, cofounder of Seva Foundation and Director of Seva's Center for Innovation in Eye Care. "KCCO has a vision for bringing top quality, high-volume eye care services to all of eastern Africa, and Seva is proud to support this impressive initiative with funding and technical assistance. It's a key component of Seva's work to expand global capacity for public health eye care delivery. In fact, KCCO is a lead partner in our new Clinton Global Initiative campaign, So One Million Eyes See Again."

KCCO serves 18 countries from Cairo to Cape Town, directing critically needed projects and collaborations throughout eastern Africa, a region with a population of around 210 million. Working with a consortium of partner agencies and funders, KCCO strives to discover new and innovative methods to bring top-notch eye-care treatment and preventative services to surrounding rural communities. In six years alone, KCCO has demonstrated that the number of cataract surgeries in programs serving rural communities c
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