For Immediate Release The John A.

Moran Eye Center brings hope to sightless in Ghana SALT LAKE CITY For nearly 20 years, Dr. Alan Crandall, M.D., has been traveling to Sub-Saharan Africa to help alleviate blindness in the developing world. Dr. Crandall, along with a medical team from the John A. Moran Eye Center, recently returned from Ghana where the team was able to restore sight to nearly 80 people. More than 800,000 people in Ghana are either visually impaired or completely blind. Ten percent of this increasing number is young children. Many children in developing countries who struggle with debilitating eye conditions place a heavy burden upon the family. This, along with other extenuating circumstances, contributes to one in seven children becoming orphans. Stevie, an orphan at age two, was abandoned on a bus by his mother. Stevie was born with congenital cataracts in both eyes. The first day Stevie met with the Moran physicians he underwent sight restoring surgery. Elaine Brown, Stevies caretaker, reported that since the surgery Stevie has begun to walk without help, sing and dance. Stories like Stevies make what we do worthwhile, Crandall said. We have the opportunity to make a difference in peoples lives. We can give them a second chance at life. Part of the outreach experience was being able to train and educate the staff at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana. Most of the surgeries involved a Moran physician working in tandem with a local physician. This hands-on training greatly benefits the local physicians and staff as they continue treatment and care after the visiting team from Utah departs. The training were able to do, along with the new surgical unit to be completed in the fall, will give hope to thousands living within Ghana and its surrounding countries, said Dr. Kandon Kamae, one of the visiting physicians who participated in the humanitarian mission. Days were long, but extremely rewarding. To see a young boy grinning from ear to ear as his father walks him out of the clinic made the entire journey an experience I will never forget. In the fall of this year a new surgical unit will be completed, commemorating a major milestone, as it will be the first center of excellence in eye care in West Africa. This new facility will increase the quality and sustainability of care to those in need. The Moran Eye Center has partnered with the Himalayan Cataract Project and United States Agency for International Development in helping alleviate blindness in Ghana. About Alan Crandall, M.D. Alan Crandall, M.D. is professor and Senior Vice-Chair of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Director of Glaucoma and Cataract at the Moran Eye Center, University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Dr. Crandall is also the Director of the Medical Education Program. He lectures all over the world and was selected by Cataract and Refractive Surgery Today as one of the 50 international opinion leaders. Dr. Crandall is a Diplomat of the National Board of Medical Examiners as well as a member of the American Board of Ophthalmology. In addition he is a member of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, where he was elected as president last year. He is also a member of the American Glaucoma Society, the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons and the International Intra-Ocular Implant Club.

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Hope to sightless/page 2 About the John A. Moran Eye Center Division of International Ophthalmology The Division of International Ophthalmology at the Moran Eye Center has a proud tradition of providing eye care and critical training to areas of the world where specialized care is inadequate or non-existent. The Centers history of outreach began 13 years ago with Dr. Alan Crandalls annual visits to Africa, and has grown to dozens more physicians, residents and fellows who provide care to an ever increasing number of the worlds population in desperate need of sight saving treatment. In 2005 the Moran Eye Center broadened its efforts when Dr. Tabin joined the Moran Eye Center as the Director of International Ophthalmology. ### *Pictures available upon request. Contact: Spencer Ngatuvai