Operation Sight Provides Charitable Cataract Surgeries To Those in Need
The American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) Foundation has established National Sight Week, October 24-28, in support of its Operation Sight charitable initiative to provide free cataract surgery to those who need them.
National Sight Week is a celebration of volunteerism, during which members of the Operation Sight network are encouraged to contribute one or more charitable cataract surgeries in their own communities. The ASCRS Foundation will work to match needy, eligible patients with volunteer surgeons, and will provide a financial stipend for each surgery completed.
Operation Sight is the ASCRS Foundation’s domestic charitable cataract surgery program. Its mission is to assist uninsured American patients who can’t obtain cataract care on their own. By leveraging the combined strength of established charitable organizations along with ASCRS-member volunteer surgeons, Operation Sight provides needed care to those unable to access or afford surgery. Patients can apply for this surgery through the Operation Sight Inquiry Form.
Stephen Lane, MD, co-chair of the ASCRS Foundation and director of the Operation Sight initiative, explains: “We’ve all seen the heartbreaking photos of cataract blinded patients in the developing world, but many forget that there is a similar need right here at home. Although they often go unnoticed, many poor Americans still fall outside the traditional safety nets. The future is especially bleak for cataract patients who lack private insurance and are not eligible for government care.”
In an effort to broaden the growing Operation Sight network and address a backlog of indigent and/or uninsured cataract patients across the United States, the ASCRS Foundation is encouraging surgeons to join Operation Sight and is helping to match them with needy patients.
“The ASCRS Foundation’s Operation Sight initiative offers a solution for Americans in need by enabling ASCRS eye surgeon members to perform charitable cataract surgeries in their own communities with administrative and financial support from the ASCRS Foundation. Together, we’re working to end preventable cataract blindness in the United States,” says Dr. Lane.
