Fred Hollows IOL Laboratory, Nepal
The Fred Hollows Intraocular Lens Laboratory in Kathmandu is a world class intraocular lenses manufacturing laboratory that has been producing superior intraocular lenses and supporting products since 1994.
History
The idea for the laboratory first started after Fred Hollows visited Nepal in 1985 as a consultant to the World Health Organization.
Dr Sanduk Ruit, a highly skilled and respected surgeon in Nepal, had a special friendship with Fred and they both shared the same outlook on life, medical philosophies and vision - of a world where no one is needlessly blind.
In the early 1990s, Fred and Dr Ruit joined together to overcome the obstacles of providing eye health services in developing countries by embarking on a journey to build a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Kathmandu.
The Fred Hollows Intraocular Lens Laboratory was funded by The Fred Hollows Foundation who assigned engineers from Australia and New Zealand to design and construct the laboratory.
Today
The Fred Hollows IOL Laboratory is now one of six divisions within Tilganga Eye Centre. Local staff produce up to 15,000 high quality rigid lenses and 2,000 foldable lenses per month, which are exported to 40 countries.
The laboratory has produced over 2 million IOLs since 1994, reducing their cost from US$100 to US$4.
The laboratory recently started producing foldable IOLs as an addition to its rigid IOLs. While the rigid IOLs are much cheaper to produce, the foldable IOLs enable operations to be performed faster and provide a superior visual outcome.
Following a transition phase, which included the up-skilling of local staff, the laboratory is now completely self-funded and locally managed.
- Visit Tilganga Eye Centre to find out more about their work
- Take a tour of the IOL Lab and find out more about their products
Contact
The Fred Hollows Intraocular Lens Laboratory
Address: Bagmati Pul, Gaushala, Kathmandu, Nepal
Postal Address: PO Box 561, Kathmandu, Nepal
Phone: + 977 1449 3775
Fax: + 977 1447 4937
Email: tec@tilganga.com.np