TRANSFORMING LIVES - SEE International

32 Pages·2013·3.42 MB·English

2012 ANNUAL REPORT
RESTORING
SIGHT
TRANSFORMING LIVES
CURRENT BOARD CURRENT
OF DIRECTORS STAFF
HARRY S. BROWN, MD, FACS RANDAL AVOLIO
Founder President/CEO
SCOTT W. GROFF NANCY BRIMHALL
Chairman of the Board Interim Director of Development
HOWARD R. HUDSON, CPA KATE BRYANT
Treasurer & Secretary Development Manager
JOHN I. CROWDER, MD STEVE BUNNELL
Medical Director Coordinator of Communications and Analytics
CARYL O. CRAHAN GEORGE DOVAS
BARBARA GAUGHEN-MULLER Staff Accountant
LT. COL. BRIAN KELLY
KIMBERLY FITZGERALD
MICHAEL LAZAROVITS
Associate, Administration & Development
MICHAEL J. PAVELOFF, MD, FACS
DANTE J. PIERAMICI, MD
LUIS PEREZ
GEORGE B. PRIMBS, MD, FACS Director of Operations
WRIGHT WATLING
PATRICK T. WELCH YATZIE PONCE
Offce Manager
LARA RICH
MISSION
Administrative Assistant, SBVCP Coordinator
STATEMENT
LUCY RIOS
Administrative Assistant
Surgical Eye Expeditions (SEE)
RACHEL SIEGEL
International provides
Retina Program Coordinator
sustainable medical, surgical
PETER SOLAR
and educational services
International Operations Manager
through volunteer ophthalmic
surgeons with the objectives of
restoring sight and preventing
blindness to disadvantaged
individuals worldwide.
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2012
ANNUAL REPORT
A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT & CEO ......................................................................... 4
OPERATIONS ......................................................................................................................... 5
INTERNATIONAL
Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe ................................................................ 7
Regional Summaries ................................................................................................ 8

Asia, Oceania, Russia ................................................................................................ 9
Regional Summaries ................................................................................................ 10
Latin America and the Caribbean .......................................................................... 11
Regional Summaries ................................................................................................ 12
CLINICS AROUND THE WORLD IN 2012 ........................................................................... 13
LOCAL/U.S.
Diabetic Retinopathy ................................................................................................ 15
Annual Training for MSICS ....................................................................................... 15
Santa Barbara Vision Care Program ....................................................................... 16
SURGICAL TEAMS ................................................................................................................. 17
FINANCIALS ........................................................................................................................... 19
OUR DONORS ........................................................................................................................ 22
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DEAR FRIENDS,
One of the miracles of life is the ability to see; to see those we love, beautiful
scenery, and a starry night. There are also the everyday things we may take for
granted, for which we depend on our eyesight, like driving, going to the movies,
taking a bike ride, or watching our children play. Thankfully, those in our country
who are blind have many incredible resources and new technologies to ensure that
their quality of life is very fulflling. In the developing world however, blindness can
even mean the difference between life and death.
Life expectancy of the blind in most developing countries is usually less than half
of that of someone with eyesight. The diffculties are compounded by the fact
that a blind person is unable to contribute to his or her family income. Not only
does blindness mean a father is unable to work, or a mother cannot care properly for her children, collect water,
or go to market, but that someone else must also care for him or her. The consequence is that, very probably,
two incomes are lost. This creates an overwhelming economic strain on the family and the community. In many
cases, the added responsibility falls on the children, who will then lose the ability to go to school and experience
a carefree childhood. Restored vision brings back both the miracle of sight and a tremendous, positive impact on
the quality of life for that individual, their family and their community. The sobering truth is that 80% of blindness
in those countries is treatable.
Here is the fact that astonishes me every time I think of it; most of the sight restoring surgeries conducted by SEE
International—for those who may have been blind for fve, 10 or even 20 years—can be done in about 30 minutes.
And, because of our selfess volunteer ophthalmologists and our stringent stewardship of every donor dollar, the
cost to cure one individual of blindness is about $100 when factoring in all operational costs and overhead. Think
of it, for just $100 any one of us can literally restore someone’s sight.
We at SEE International are proud and humbled to report that we ended 2012 with an astonishing number of
patients served. Through the hard work of our fantastic staff and the generous contributions of many individuals,
companies and foundations, SEE International supported 10,208 sight restoring surgeries around the world. In
2012, we reached even more treatable children, women and men than in 2011, and our volunteer teams visited
new sites, including Chiquitania, Bolivia; Fond des Blancs, Haiti; Port Harcourt, Nigeria; and Ganta, Liberia.
And our work isn’t just limited to the developing world; right here in Santa Barbara County, through our Santa
Barbara Vision Care Program, SEE International completed 22 sight restoring surgeries and other treatments, and
helped provide eye care to 1,247 adults and children.
Because of the effcient and coordinated efforts of volunteer surgeons, medical professional partners overseas,
volunteers and the dedicated team at our global headquarters. SEE International is a highly leveraged model
of effciency.
It is with a determined resolve, that we report to you the need for our work is not decreasing; according to a
recent World Health Organization report, more than 161 million people worldwide suffer from a serious visual
impairment. The good news is there is a simple and successful cure for many of them, and you can continue to be
a big part of that.
So, on behalf of people throughout the world who we are so privileged to serve, thank you for your critical role in
bringing back the miracle of sight for thousands through your continued support.
With gratitude,
RANDAL E. AVOLIO
President/CEO
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SEE
OPERATIONS
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AFRICA, THE MIDDLE EAST,
EASTERN EUROPE
With a combined total of 12.8 million blind individuals in these regions, and limited
access to ophthalmologists, many curable blind do not have access to the care they
need. Being blind signifcantly increases mortality rates in these regions, and an
estimated two-thirds of the blind people in Africa are women.
In 2012, SEE International assisted affliate ophthalmologists in completing
1,924 surgeries and 3,999 screenings in 10 countries in these regions.
FROM THE FIELD
SEPTEMBER 2012, NAMIBIA – We have just returned from an Eye Camp in Oshakati, Namibia. The camp was
run under the auspices of SEE International. The vast majority of the supplies we used were provided from a
large donation by Alcon. The doctors in the group included three Namibian ophthalmologists, headed by Dr.
Helena Ndume, and two SEE surgeons, Dr. Reed Kindermann from the USA and Dr. Jeremy Joseph from the
UK. Over the course of fve days, the group undertook 307 operations, of which 305 were cataract extractions
and intra-ocular lens implantations.

You might be interested to know a little bit about this surgical camp. Organized by Dr. Ndume, each phase
of the surgical experience has a highly trained component of the overall team and these various parts of the
team together comprise a virtual assembly line of cataract surgery. Orderlies move the patients in and out of
the operating theater, trained personnel provide the anesthetic blocks, skilled surgical technicians assist the
surgeons and operating room support staff sterilize instruments, provide biometry and procure the correct
IOLs and supplies.
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All cataract extractions are completed using the small incision, manual extraction technique (these remote
surgical settings do not lend themselves to phacoemulsifcaton). In the end, a large number of blind people
can see again and the joy is palpable. We wish you and Alcon, who made so much of this possible, could
share in this joyful experience.
The ongoing program of Eye Camps in Namibia, which commenced in 1999, has resulted in a vast number of
people undergoing sight restoring surgery. In Oshakati alone, while we were there this past month, Dr. Ndume
was commended for her team’s completion of more than 4,000 cataracts since the program began. The
overall census throughout Namibia of completed cataract procedures with the support of SEE International
and Alcon since 1999 is truly extraordinary.
– Reed Kindermann, MD, and Jeremy Joseph, MD
HOST VISITING
OPHTHALMOLOGISTS OPHTHALMOLOGISTS
Benedictus Ajayi, MD Jack Aaron, MD, Tucson, AZ
Thomas Baah, MBBS John Dagianis, MD, Nashua, NH
Yemisrach Gebretsadik, MD James Guzek, MD, Richland, WA
Pravoslava Guguchkova, MD Michael Gilbert, MD, Bellevue, WA
Solomon Guramantuhu, MD Daniel Gradin, MD, Longview, WA
Samuel Imana, MD Howard Gross, MD, Linwood, NJ
Roger Kapembu, MD Jeffrey Ing, MD, Stockton, CA
Joseph Kerkula, MD Herbert Ingraham, MD, Danville, PA
Mike Maingrette, MD Jeremy Joseph, MD, London, U.K.
Helena Ndume , MD Yasser Khan, MD,
Dennis Nkanga, MD Mississauga, ON, Canada
Omaka Okoh, MD W. Reed Kindermann, MD, PA,
Fadamiro Christianah Cherry Hill, NJ
Olufunmilayo, MD John Millin, MD, Cheyenne, WY
Mikhael Omiadze, MD Julio Narvaez, MD, Stockton, CA
Lawrence Onyekwe, MD Edward Nelson, MD, York, PA
Eustace Penniecook, MD (General Medicine)
Raymond Toseafa, MD Dennis Nkanga, MD, Calabar, Nigeria
Steven Olkowski, MD, York, PA
Dapo Oriola, MD, Los Angeles, CA
(General Medicine),
Ukamaka Oruche, MD, Fishers, IN
(General Medicine)
Aisha Simjee, MD, FACS, Orange, CA
Ukeme Umana, MD, Marion, IL
Kimball Woodward, MD, Westport, CT
Edward Glinski, DO, MBA, Edmond, OK
Navin Gupta, MD, Mumbai, India
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ASIA, OCEANIA, RUSSIA
Asia is the world’s largest and most populous continent, and also home to an
estimated one-third of the world’s blind. It is also estimated that just over 30 percent
of the curable blind in Asia have their sight restored.
SEE International assisted affliate ophthalmologists in completing 3,204 surgeries and
4,957 screenings in 2012. Our volunteer expedition teams worked in 10 countries in
these regions.
FROM THE FIELD
NOVEMBER 2012, FIJI – This morning we concluded our most successful program to date with the fnal
six patients being delivered to the Suva boat. Our team, once again led ably by Dr. Jeff Rutgard and Senior
Theatre Nurse Ineke Van Laar, has worked tirelessly for the past two weeks to help change many lives. The
medical team this year was made up of four from the US, two from Australia and fve from New Zealand.
A total of around 350 patients were presented, many of them arriving at the hospital with sacks of
taro/pineapple/cassava, etc. Cataract surgery and Yag Laser treatments were performed on 229 patients.
For the frst time, we operated on fve patients with congenital bilateral cataracts who were under 12 years
old. Dr. Rutgard is very positive about their outcomes.
At the other end of the age range, we operated on a 90-year-old man with bilateral cataracts who had
been blind for 12 years. His wish was to see his only grandson for the frst time. That wish was granted the
following day.
We sincerely appreciate your support in making this outreach possible.
- John Amos, Rotary Club of Taveuni Island