This is the user sandbox of Ief1961. A user sandbox is a subpage of the user's user page. It serves as a testing spot and page development space for the user and is not an encyclopedia article. Create or edit your own sandbox here.

Other sandboxes: Main sandbox | Template sandbox

Finished writing a draft article? Are you ready to request review of it by an experienced editor for possible inclusion in Wikipedia? Submit your draft for review!

International Eye Foundation

The International Eye Foundation (IEF) is a non-profit organization based in the United States and was founded in 1961 by John Harry King Jr. and Thomas A. Dooley, MD as the International Eye Bank originally. IEF changed its focus from corneal transplantation to treatment and prevention of blinding diseases in 1965 and changed its name to the International Eye Foundation to ensure the delivery of eye care to under served communities throughout the developing world. The organization operates in Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.

History

At the urging of missionary Dr. Tom Dooley, in Thailand in the late 1950’s, Dr. John Harry King, Jr., a corneal transplant pioneer, founded the International Eye Bank in 1961 under the arm of CARE/Medico. After his distinguished military medical career including serving in the Pacific and European theaters in World War II, Dr. King retired as Chief of Ophthalmology at the [null Walter Reed Army Hospital] in Washington, DC. In retirement, he focused entirely on promoting corneal transplant surgery and urging Lions Clubs to build eye banks in the Washington, DC area. In 1961-1962, IEF and the US National Eye Institute supported Dr. David Paton for one year at the St. John Eye Hospital in Jerusalem performing corneal grafts, training local eye surgeons, and ultimately attaining the formal support of [null His Majesty King Hussein of Jordan]. Dr. King soon realized however, that much of the blindness in the developing world was preventable and care could be provided before people became blind. He changed the organization’s name to the International Eye Foundation in 1965 and focused the mission on the prevention of blindness and primary eye care.

SightReach® Management

In 1999, the IEF evolved by reorienting its programming toward sustainability of eye hospitals in under-developed countries. SightReach® Management, IEF’s flagship program, invests in and provides technical assistance to private, charity, and government eye hospitals to transform how they deliver eye care. The goal is to achieve a level of financial self-sufficiency and reduce dependence on donations, yet still be able to serve the poorest individuals in need of care. IEF’s approach focuses on building local management capacity, quality services, financial resources, cost reduction, and creative pricing structures enabling revenue generating services that cross-subsidize services for the poor.

Where We Work

Africa:

Cameroon – onchocerciasis and neglected tropical disease control in Adamaoua and South Provinces.

Malawi

Zambia

Asia:

India

Latin America:

Guatemala

Haiti

Honduras

Jamaica

Mexico

Nicaragua

Panama

Paraguay

Peru

Middle East:

Egypt

SightReach® Prevention

IEF continues to support onchocerciasis (river blindness) control and neglected tropical disease programs in Cameroon. Onchocerciasis control programs delivering community-based Mectizan® were pioneered by IEF in 1990 in Guatemala and with Africare in Nigeria as soon as Mectizan® became available for human use by Merck and Company, Inc. Additional programs were pioneered in Cameroon and Malawi in 1992. Guatemala was declared “onchocerciasis free” by the World Health Organization in 2016.

IEF is the Technical Advisor to the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Child Blindness Program (CBP) which provides grants to pediatric eye care programs around the world. Focusing on threats to eye health in children, IEF influences how grants are made in order to achieve quality and impact for USAID.

[PD1]Add source – this can just be the main IEF website as well