This project is supported by the L'OCCITANE Foundation.
Context
Ukraine continues to suffer an ongoing war with Russia. Since the Russian invasion, the country has seen massive disruption and devastation. Despite the upheavals, Seva partners can still serve their communities to the best of their abilities. Every month, hospitals screen babies, as well as patients living with HIV and AIDS, for blinding eye diseases. They do it despite inconsistent electricity and water supply, as well as regular breakdowns in the supply chain.
At the same time, nearly 0.4% of the population in Ukraine is blind, and almost 5% has moderate-to-severe vision impairment. There are only 66.3 ophtalmologists per million people in Ukraine, and even not all of them are practicing.
Supported Project
From 2023 to 2026, the L'OCCITANE Foundation is supporting the Seva Foundation in its efforts to increase acess to eye care and strenghten the capacity of eye care providers to meet demand. Located in the cities of Odessa and Mykolaiv, this project aims to prevent blindness by screening babies and people living with HIV and AIDS in order to diagnose and treat eye diseases before they cause permanent damage. Seva and its partner hospitals will help neonatology departments to screen the eyes of babies born prematurely and at risk of Retinopathy of Prematurity (a condition in which the baby's retina is not fully developped, making it vulnerable to visual impairment and blindness).
This project also seeks to work with Infectious Disease Hospitals to screen the eyes of people living with HIV and AIDS who are at risk of developing Cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis (namely a virus that impact immunocompromised patients and that can make them go blind within weeks).
Some Figures
Budget 320,656 euros
Goal 2,240 beneficiaries
Goal 19 new actors trained
Result to date 162 beneficiaries
Result to date 13 new actors trained
