September 06, 2013 - Four Nepalese institutions are sharing a €1-million prize from
a Portuguese foundation for their work fighting eyesight disorders and blindness in
their country. The Lisbon-based Champalimaud Foundation's annual Vision Award, created
in 2007, claims to be the biggest monetary award for work on eyesight and one of the
world's largest scientific prizes. The foundation said in a statement the winning
institutions have over the past 20 years helped to reduce treatable and avoidable
blindness in Nepal where, it said, vision disorders such as cataracts are a major
health concern. The Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology, Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh,
the Eastern Regional Eye Care Program involving the Sagarmatha Choudhary and Biratnagar
eye hospitals, and the Lumbini Eye Institute were named as winners on Wednesday.