Govt to set up intraocular lens manufacturing facility

Kathmandu / May 12: The government is setting up an intraocular lens manufacturing facility for Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology (TIO) being run under the Nepal Eye Program.

The Ministry of Industry (MoI) and the (TIO) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish the facility amid a function on Thursday. Purushottam Nepal, an under at the MoI, and Sanduk Ruit, the executive director of Nepal Eye Program, signed the MoU.

As per the MoU, the ministry will establish a facility which will produce intraocular lens and other accessories, the MoI said in a statement.

The ministry has also said that it would take needful initiative for declaring the project a national pride project.

“Apart from establishing the facility, the ministry will also ease the import of required raw materials and equipment for the facility,” the statement added.

The existing facility under TIO has already produced 4.9 million units of intraocular lens. It has annual production capacity of 500,000 lenses. The lens produced by TIO has been sold in more than 50 countries.

The equipment and manpower of the existing facility of the TIO will be transferred to the new facility to be established by the ministry, according to the industry.

Minister for Industry Nabindra Raj Joshi said that the new facility will have the capacity to produce 1.5 million lenses annually. “Lens produced by the new factory will be sold in both domestic and international market,” Joshi added.