Located in Nairobi, Kenya, the Lions SightFirst Eye Hospital has received the 2019 Golisano Global Health Leadership Award. Presented at the 2019 Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, Past International Director Dr. Manoj Shah accepted the award on behalf of the hospital.
Lions SightFirst Eye Hospital believes in the important work Special Olympics is doing and stives to keep openiong doors for athletes—or anyone—with intellectual disabilities.
A champion of inclusive health
Regarded as the highest Special Olympics honor, the Golisano Global Health Leadership Award is presented to “health champions—leaders and organizations—that are making significant contributions to equal access to health, fitness and wellness for people with intellectual disabilities.” Established in 2017, the award recognizes global progress to increase access to healthcare for people with intellectual disabilities.
SightFirst, fighting preventable blindness
Located within the Loresho Westlands District of Nairobi, Lions SightFirst Eye Hospital focuses on economically disadvantaged patients. The hospital provides dental, ENT and hearing, and diabetes care, along with extensive eye care services, and doubles as a training center for health professionals. Its name comes from Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF)’s SightFirst program, which funds Lion efforts to fight the major causes of preventable blindness.
Lions organize the SightFirst projects and often partner with local health authorities, eye care professionals and other non-governmental organizations. Projects strengthen eye care in underserved areas of the world and care for those who are blind or visually impaired by establishing eye care services, upgrading infrastructure for existing eye care services, training professionals, education, rehabilitation and public awareness.
Lions Clubs International Foundation has supported the hospital with more than US$3.5 million in SightFirst grants since the beginning of its construction in 1994. Funds have supported initial construction and most recently, the establishment of four vision centers in four different countries that will feed into the hospital’s referral network.
Exceptional accomplishments
Since its opening in 1997, the Lions SightFirst Eye Hospital has:
- Served more than two million people, with 70 percent of its services provided at no cost to patients
- Held more than 4,000 eye screening camps
- Conducted more than 86,300 sight-restoring cataract surgeries, at no cost to patients
- Started the first-ever eye bank in East and Central Africa to process, store, analyze and provide tissue transplants
- Harvested more than 3,500 donor corneas and transplanted more than 1,500 donor corneas, the majority of them for economically-disadvantaged patients
In the past five years, the Lions SightFirst Eye Hospital has made significant impact regarding follow-up care for Special Olympics Kenya athletes. The hospital has:
- Donated more than 1,000 eye glasses to athletes
- Conducted more than 15 surgeries, at no cost to the athletes and their families
- Directly benefitted nearly 4,000 athletes and indirectly benefitted thousands more through Family Health Forums where Lions provide health education to families and older athletes
The hospital is the first to initiate diabetes screening and treatment for all Special Olympics athletes in Kenya. There is also now a full health program focused on inclusion.
Striving to open doors
“As we honor the 2019 Golisano Global Health Leadership Award honorees, we recognize the impressive work healthcare professionals can achieve to care for a marginalized population,” said Ann Costello, executive director of the Golisano Foundation. “We applaud these individuals and organizations and challenge others to make the same strides for people with intellectual disabilities.”
“This award is a tremendous honor,” said Dr. Manoj Shah, past international director for Lions Clubs International and current board vice chairman for Lions SightFirst Eye Hospital. “Lions SightFirst Eye Hospital believes in the important work Special Olympics is doing and strives to keep opening doors for athletes—and anyone—with intellectual disabilities.”
This is the second Golisano Global Health Leadership Award for a Lion organization. The first was awarded to the Lions Clubs of Belgium in 2017 for its outstanding financial and logistical support of Belgium’s Healthy Athletes program.
To support more Lion efforts in creating an inclusive world, please consider making a donation today.
Jamie Konigsfeld is a marketing content specialist for Lions Clubs International Foundation.
