Awassa hospital
Eye tracking experiment
Dr. Itay Ben Zion examine the children eye sight, Sabeta blind School
Awassa hospital
Our Mission
Roughly a quarter of childhood blindness cases in sub-Saharan Africa result from cataract, a treatable condition (see figure on the right). The cataract-afflicted children typically remain blind due to lack of diagnosis and medical care and all too often die before reaching adulthood. Project Eye-Opener, based in Ethiopia, was founded in 2013, by Drs. Ehud Zohary and Itay Ben Zion to improve the lives of such children who have been blind from birth in a dramatic way.
Our project combines surgical treatment with rigorous scientific evaluation and follow-up therapy to optimize chances for their sight recovery. In addition to the life-changing effects on these specific children, this project promises to provide important lessons from a rare "natural experiment" that occurred due to lack of adequate medical care.
A crucial element of Project Eye Opener, is that it is centered on children who have been practically blind from birth for extended periods lasting 4-20 years. There are virtually no such cases in the developed world, because cataract is easily diagnosed in newborns and treated within the first year of age. Our project is world-unique in having the opportunity to assess vision restoration after the presumed “critical” period, when permanent damage has already occurred. The invaluable experience gained from our patients, can therefore enable better chances of sight recovery in all people suffering from congenital blindness, using cutting-edge technologies (such as retinal implants) that are currently being developed elsewhere.
Gondar
Jimma
Future Sites
Sheshemene Blind School
Current Sites
Bako Blind School
The map depicts our current centers of screening and medical treatment
Hawassa Referral Hospital
Sebeta Blind School
