Raj Kaliya Dhanuk lies still on a bed with weights on her eye after receiving local anesthesia at Hetauda community eye hospital in Hetauda, about 40 kilometers (18 miles) south of Katmandu, Nepal on Feb.13, 2010. Dhanuk and more than 500 others, most of whom have never seen a doctor before, traveled for days by bicycle, motorbike, bus and even on their relatives’ backs to reach Dr. Sanduk Ruit’s mobile eye camp. Once condemned by the international medical community as unthinkable and reckless, this mass surgery “in the bush” started spreading from Nepal to poor countries worldwide nearly two decades ago.
via The Boston Globe’s Big Picture: Best Photos in 2010
Hats off to this medical pioneer. Amazing.
UPDATE: Gary Levin commented:
This picture demonstrates an innovative approach to reducing the intraocular pressure prior to cataract removal, and also helps the local retrobulbar anesthesia to be more complete. Made from readily available materials (in the bush).