Dr. Sanduk Ruit is a renowned Nepalese ophthalmologist, often called the “God of Sight” for restoring vision to over 180,000 people, mostly in poor and remote regions of Asia and Africa. Born in 1954 in the remote village of Olangchungola, Nepal, with no access to healthcare or nearby schools, Ruit was driven to medicine after losing his sister to tuberculosis at age 17. He studied in India and trained in Australia under Dr. Fred Hollows, who inspired his mission to make cataract surgery affordable and accessible.

Ruit revolutionized cataract surgery by developing a low-cost, sutureless technique that takes just five minutes and uses intraocular lenses produced at his Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology in Kathmandu for as little as $3-$4, compared to $100-$200 elsewhere. This innovation, combined with mobile eye camps, has made Nepal a model for sustainable eye care, halving treatable blindness rates there over three decades. He co-founded the Himalayan Cataract Project and the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation, which aim to screen millions and cure hundreds of thousands of cataract blindness cases by 2030.

His work spans countries like North Korea, Ethiopia, and Bhutan, often reaching patients who trek days for treatment. Ruit’s awards include the Ramon Magsaysay Award (2006), Padma Shri (2018), and the Isa Award for Service to Humanity (2023), with $1 million from Bahrain. He’s trained over 650 doctors globally, spreading his techniques to over 70 countries. His biography, The Barefoot Surgeon, details his journey from a Himalayan village to global impact.