Kathmandu, Aug 8: The World Health Organization (WHO) South-East Asia Regional Office is set to confer the WHO South-East Asia Regional ‘Public Health Champion’ Award 2026 in the public health category on Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh (NNJS).
The WHO is recognizing NNJS for its outstanding contribution to reducing avoidable blindness in Nepal and expanding accessible and equitable eye health services, particularly for disadvantaged and underserved communities. This is the first time that NNJS has been selected for the award in this category.
According to a statement issued today by the WHO South-East Asia Regional Office, the award will be presented during the 79th session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia, scheduled to take place in October.
Along with Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh, Dr Nittaya Phanuphak of Thailand and Dr. K. Sureshkumar of India have also been selected for the Public Health category.
The NNJS has been working for nearly five decades to eliminate avoidable blindness in Nepal. Through its nationwide network of eye hospitals and eye care centres, community-based eye care and surgical camps, programmes reaching underserved populations, and efforts to integrate eye health into primary healthcare services, the organization has made a significant contribution to restoring and protecting the vision of millions of people.
According to Prof Dr Chetraj Pant, chair of NNJS, the organization has so far provided eye care services to 50,200,489 people and performed 5,659,624 eye surgeries. The NNJS currently provides eye care services to Nepali citizens as well as people from other countries through 28 eye hospitals and 226 eye care centres under 44 district branches.
NNJS Executive Director Dr Shailesh Kumar Mishra said the organization has been working to ensure access to quality eye health services for all through community participation, partnerships and services based on local needs.
“Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh has been working with the objective of ensuring access to quality eye health services for all through community participation, partnerships and services based on local needs. Through our nationwide service system, we are prioritizing the expansion of free and subsidized eye treatment and surgical services, particularly for communities that are economically and geographically disadvantaged,” he said.
According to WHO, the prevalence of blindness in Nepal declined from 0.84 percent in 1981 to 0.28 percent in 2020/21.
The WHO South-East Asia Regional Office stated that 102 nominations were received this year for the Public Health category. The recipients were selected by a committee comprising senior WHO experts following an assessment based on criteria including public health impact, innovation, scalability, sustainability and equitable access.
The award is regarded as an important international recognition of NNJS’s sustained efforts to reduce avoidable blindness in Nepal and ensure quality and accessible eye health services for all.
According to Bharat Bahadur Chand, General Secretary of NNJS, the organization considers the award a recognition of the collective contribution of its affiliated ophthalmologists, health workers, employees, volunteers, district branches, eye hospitals, Eye Care centres, government agencies, development partners, donor organizations, local communities and well-wishers.
Meanwhile, the NNJS reportedly generated more than Rs 1.5 billion in foreign currency through international patients during the last fiscal year, opening new opportunities for the development of health tourism in Nepal.
