WHAT IS THE ARMENIAN EYECARE PROJECT?
The Armenian Eyecare Project is a nonprofit organization, founded in 1992, dedicated to providing the Armenian people eye care through five primary programs. The mission of the AECP is to eliminate preventable blindness and its causes in Armenia and to make eye care accessible to all. The organization is governed by a volunteer board of directors and funded with private dollars.
WHY WAS THE EYECARE PROJECT FOUNDED?
The AECP was founded by Dr. Roger Ohanesian, an ophthalmologist in California, after Armenia’s Minister of Health asked the international community for help in fighting a “growing wave of blindness” in Armenia and for assistance with the country’s health crisis. The desperate circumstances in Armenia were the result of a number of widespread factors, all occurring around the same time.
WHAT DOES THE EYECARE PROJECT DO?
To accomplish our mission, the Armenian EyeCare Project delivers care through: 1) direct patient care, 2) medical education & training, 3) public education, 4) research and 5) capacity building. Each of these points works together with the others to form a comprehensive eye care system in Armenia that helps eliminate preventable blindness and provides quality care to the country’s residents.
