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Champalimaud Foundation’s 2019 Vision Award Winners

The Award recognizes three organizations who have overcome barriers of poverty and geography to address the eye care needs of disadvantaged populations in Brazil

The 2019 António Champalimaud Vision Award was presented to the Instituto da Visão - IPEPO, the Altino Ventura Foundation and the UNICAMP Ophthalmology Service, three organisations that support ophthalmology and the prevention of blindness in Brazil.

The 2019 António Champalimaud Vision Award recognises the Instituto da Visão - IPEPO, the Altino Ventura Foundation and the UNICAMP Ophthalmology Service, three longstanding organisations that have worked to prevent blindness and visual impairment, by providing eye services to underserved populations, in Brazil. 

  • The Instituto da Visão-IPEPO, making use of telemedicine and other new technologies, has provided cataract surgical services, free glasses, and tertiary eye care covering a population of over 2 million people in Metropolitan São Paulo, the Amazon and beyond. 
  • The Altino Ventura Foundation, based in Pernambuco in Northeast Brazil, one of the poorest regions of South America, has worked throughout the region to eliminate blindness, and rehabilitate the visually impaired. 
  • The UNICAMP Ophthalmology Service, part of one of Brazil's top university hospitals, initiated the first cataract-free-zone project in Latin America, a true public health-based approach to the treatment and prevention of blindness. 

Overcoming barriers of poverty and geography, these three outstanding organisations have helped address the eye care needs of disadvantaged populations in Brazil for over 30 years


The Champalimaud Foundation, created in 2005 by the last will and testament of António de Sommer Champalimaud, focuses on cutting-edge research and strives to stimulate new discoveries and knowledge that can improve the health and well-being of people around the world. The Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, in Lisbon, Portugal, hosts the Foundation's activities in the fields of neuroscience and oncology by means of research programs and the provision of clinical care of excellence. The fight against blindness is also supported through a focused outreach program.

Applications for the next award cycle close Dec. 31, 2019. The 2020 award will focus on contributions to overall vision research. Learn more about the Champalimaud Foundation.

More information on the website http://first.fchampalimaud.org/en/vision-award/