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Kathmandu Sunday November 04, 2001 Kartik 19, 2058.
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Intra-Ocular lens exports booming
By Manoj M. Rijal
KATHMANDU, Nov 3 - Though produced without commercial or
profit earning motives, the export of Nepal manufactured Intra-Ocular Lens, which is used
for curing blindness caused by cataract (Motibindu), has seen an impressive bounce in the
past few years.
Starting from scratch, the export of the lens grew almost
eight folds in since 1996/97, when Nepal Eye Programme, Tilganga in association with Fred
Hollows Foundation, Australia initiated the production of such technically high quality
lens.
The volume of export in the year 2000/2001 has been recorded
at over 59 thousand pieces, whereas only 7770 pieces of lens were exported in 1996/97.
Similarly, the export increased by 28 percent in the fiscal year 2000/01 as compared to
the exports of the previous fiscal year.
Tilganga in 1996/97 began manufacturing the lens with a total
of 31,096 pieces. The production at the end of 2000/01 stood at over 138 thousand.
The booming export of the lens is taking place simultaneously
with its increasing popularity back home. People who turned blind due to cataract have
immensely benefited from it.
"Though the proportion of exports to the total
manufactured pieces is on the rise, Nepali blinds have received the utmost priority,"
says Dr Sanduk Ruit, Medical Director at Tilganga Eye Centre.
"Nepalis are quite lucky since 95 percent of the
cataract blinds get lens implanted in their eyes, whereas only 45 percent of the Indian
cataract blinds get such opportunities," informed Dr Ruit. According to estimates,
there are more than 250,000 cataract blinds in Nepal.
The main reason for the increasing export of the Nepali lens
is its high quality and competitive price. Says a proud staff at the Centre,
"Tilganga has already been awarded the ISO 9002, an international quality standard
and it is the first ever institute in the entire South Asian Region to receive CE Mark, an
international medical standard."
Similarly, Reggie Seimon, Chairman of Sri Lanka Eye
Foundation says, "Having used the Fred Hollows lens in an eye camp in Tibet, I would
put one in my own eye."
Though the Fred Hollows lens produced here cater to over 90
percent of the domestic demand, some Indian companies producing sub-standard lens are
trying hard to penetrate Nepali market, claim officials. "The fear is about those
patients who unknowingly use such low-graded lens," said an official preferring
anonymity.
The Nepalese cataract lens has expanded so widely that 19
countries from Africa, 10 from Asia, 6 from Europe, 2 from Central America, 1 from Middle
East and 5 from Australia and Oceania, with an altogether of 46 countries from around the
world import Fred Hollows lens with high priority.
And what makes the Nepali lens a success in the international
market is the results that it has shown in the course of the innumerable tests that it has
gone through. "The lenses have been used extensively throughout Africa and Asia and
have been tested by leading international authorities in Ophthalmology," say
officials.
Some of the countries importing the ‘Made in Nepal’
Fred Hollows lens are Thailand, Vietnam, Italy, Germany, Kenya, South Africa, India, Sri
Lanka, Pakistan, Nigeria and Turkey, among others.
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