The EFA's Mission
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that eighty percent of the world's 45 million blind people live in in developing countries.The Eye Foundation of America's mission is to go where the need is greatest — often rural and remote areas where there is no medical care or where the cost of the care is prohibitive.
"The Eye Foundation of America's mission is to go where the need is greatest..."
We provide medical eye care and treatment that is both affordable and accessible to all on equal terms, with the goal of eliminating preventable blindness. We take extra steps to ensure that our treatment is of the highest quality--comparable to that provided by the best hospitals in the world. We also deliver that care in ways that maintain each patient's self respect and dignity.
We've treated Native Americans, wounded refugees in war-torn Afghanistan, and have built eye hospitals in India--one with a wing devoted exclusively to children. We work in more than 14 countries and plan to extend that reach in the years ahead.
The Foundation's History
The Eye Foundation of America began its work in 1979 with the vision of ophthalmologist V.K. Raju, MD. It grew out of his earlier work providing services and treatment near his birthplace in Rajamundry, a town in Southeast India's Andrah Pradesh. Raju organized teams to go to remote areas and deliver eye care in areas where there otherwise were none. These traveling clinics were known as "eye camps." (Eye camps remain a standard part of the Foundation's services today.)
Raju dedicated virtually all the spare time he had outside his busy ophthalmological practice and used his own funds to cover many of the expenses. Eventually it became apparent that the lack of accessible, affordable eye care was very large and shared by an enormous number of people worldwide. In order to battle preventable blindness on a global scale and to gain strength by partnering with other organizations, Raju created the nonprofit organization that we know as the Eye Foundation of America.
Today's Foundation has grown far beyond its original size and scope but never outgrew the vision of its founder, who continues to look ahead. We have built modern eye hospitals and trained ophthalmic assistants and other personnel to carry on our work. We provide workshops and fellowships for physicians and medical students throughout the world. We also conduct research to find better ways of preventing blindness, to learn how to distribute vitamins and supplements efficiently, and to determine how to maximize our efforts so that we can do more with less.
