Dr. Geoffrey Tabin explained to his Morning Forum audience on Oct. 1 how his lifelong passion for climbing led to his decision to specialize in ophthalmology so he could help restore the sight of the needlessly blind in third world countries.
Tabin is cofounder and chairman of the Himalayan Cataract Project and a professor of Ophthalmology and Global Medicine at Stanford University. He is the author of “Blind Corners: Adventures on Seven Continents” and the recipient of numerous awards for his medical, philanthropic and athletic achievements.
Tabin said that once he started rock climbing as a teen he was always looking for the next hardest challenge. After graduating from Yale he won a Rhodes Scholarship to study philosophy at Oxford.
Tabin then explained how Oxford changed his life. He had initially planned to go into sports medicine or orthopedics, but at Oxford he became motivated by his desire to address the inequalities in health care. Oxford’s generous allotment of time off to its students allowed Tabin to spend much time climbing in the Himalayas, which then led him to discover how he would fulfill that desire.
At the beginning of his talk, Tabin explained the history of climbing expeditions on Mt. Everest and showed spectacular pictures that illustrate the appeal that draws so many to take on this dangerous challenge. He noted, “getting up is optional, getting down is mandatory.”
The fourth person in the world to reach the tallest peak on each of the seven continents, Tabin summarized a few of his most harrowing adventures – “none of which my mother approved of,” he quipped. He described missing his matriculation at medical school because he was incarcerated in Indonesia and participating in the first bungee jump with other members of Oxford’s Dangerous Sports Club. Their jump off Colorado’s Royal Gorge Bridge, the world’s highest suspension bridge, started the bungee jump craze of the 1980s.
While in medical school at Harvard, he secured a research grant to photograph the effect of altitude on retinas so that he could participate in the first expedition to climb the east – the most difficult – face of Everest, with some of his climbing heroes: “the best team experience I’ve ever had” he said.
During his many climbs in the Himalayas in the 1980s, Tabin became aware of the prevalence of blindness among older Nepalese caused by untreated cataracts. At the time there were only four doctors in the country doing cataract surgery and they were using outdated methods.
Inspired by the work of European doctors who were doing a new kind of lens implant surgery in Nepalese villages, he knew that he too wanted to help reverse needless blindness. Tabin returned to the U.S. to refocus his medical training on ophthalmology.
Two years later Tabin returned to Nepal, where he met the Nepalese ophthalmologist Sanduk Ruit, who became, he said, his mentor, “the genius behind everything I’ve accomplished.”
In 1995 Tabin and Dr. Ruit established the Himalayan Cataract Project to give the highest quality of care for the least amount of money to eliminate treatable blindness. Ruit’s system of sterilization allowed them to achieve a success rate comparable to that of western countries with far less expensive equipment.
To illustrate the efficiency of Ruit’s clinics, Tabin said that as they were bringing the costs down, the two of them were able to do 224 surgeries in three days “Ruit, did 201, I did 23,” he humbly admitted. For comparison, Tabin noted that doing 15 such surgeries at Stanford is considered a full day.
To explain why his work has been so compelling and rewarding, Tabin presented a number of statistics: 39 million people are blind worldwide, 50% because of treatable conditions, and 90% in third world countries.
Furthermore, he added, blindness creates a huge economic burden on countries as it leads to a $47 billion loss in productivity per year. There is a 400% economic return for every dollar spent on restoring sight. Children who have had to stay home to care for blind relatives can return to school and laborers can return to work while hope is restored to communities.
In the 30 years since The Himalayan Cataract Project started, it has restored sight to over 1.4 million people. Even through natural disasters and Nepal’s Maoist Revolution when most westerners left the country, Tabin said, “we kept working.”
After focusing on curing blindness in Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan, Tabin and Ruit have extended their efforts to Africa, which suffers from the highest incidence of blindness in the world. In the last year The Himalayan Cataract Project has been folded into a larger nonprofit, Cure Blindness.
Tabin explained that although he has removed cataracts on over 60,000 people over the last 30 years,” I still get such joy witnessing the faces of those who have had their sight restored.” He added that knowing that “cataract surgery is one of the few medical cures that lasts” deepens his love for his work.
Tabin then showed post-surgery slides of dozens of his patients. Their expressions of utter bliss and gratitude conveyed more than words ever could exactly why his work has been so gratifying.
Morning Forum of Los Altos is a membership lecture series held Tuesdays at the United Methodist Church. For more information, visit morningforum.org.
