Dr Sanduk Ruit has made it again. The US-based Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship has honored him with the “Social Entrepreneurs of the Year 2014” award for his initiatives taken as part of the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology (TIO), a part of Nepal Eye Program.

 

Dr Ruit is among the 37 social entrepreneurs recognized by the Schwab Foundation as the Social Entrepreneurs of the Year 2014, for their innovative approaches and the potentials they have for making global. Prior to this his initiatives have been recognized with the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2006 and Thailand's Prince Mahidol Award in 2007.

 

“Social entrepreneurs are the driving force behind innovations that improve the quality of life of individuals around the world, and they represent an integral and dynamic community of the World Economic Forum,” Hilde Schwab, Chairperson and Co-Founder of the foundation said while announcing the awardees for this year. 

 

 Dr Ruit, born in remote village of Eastern Nepal, is the first Nepali doctor to perform cataract surgery with intraocular lens implants and the first to pioneer a method for delivering high-quality microsurgical procedures in remote eye camps. He helped found the Tilganga Eye Centre in 1994. The center treats 6,000 patients a week and waives off surgery fees for the neediest. Hi sole mission has been, and continues to be, to bring eyesight back to anyone who needs it, regardless of his or her ability to pay. The Tilganga eye care model to provide high quality amd cost effective eye care at the community level has been adopted by many countries. The manufacture of high quality, low cost Intraocular Lens in Nepal has provided eyesight to close to 4 million people around the world.

 

 “A growing number of corporations see income inequality and environmental problems like climate change as fundamental threats to their long-term growth,” said David Aikman, senior director, World Economic Forum, and head of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. “Many governments are starting to rethink the way they deliver goods and services to improve social outcomes. We are seeing greater appetite among other stakeholder groups of the Forum to learn from social innovation models and collaborate with social entrepreneurs in innovative ways. I am confident this trend will also continue to grow in the future, and the World Economic Forum is proud to be at the forefront of catalysing partnerships among these stakeholder groups for social and environmental change.”

 

The awardees will become part of the broader Schwab Foundation community of Social Entrepreneurs, which includes 250 outstanding social entrepreneurs from 60 countries. Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneurs are fully integrated into the events and initiatives of the World Economic Forum. They contribute actively to and benefit from peer-to-peer exchanges with other social entrepreneurs as well as interactions with top leaders in business, government, civil society and the media.