Help Aravind Answer the Challenge to Cure Retinoblastoma!

Thanks to the incredible generosity of a long-time Aravind friend and supporter, we have a received a challenge grant for our work with children who have retinoblastoma.

Retinoblastoma is a blinding, often fatal, eye cancer that affects children under the age of five. In the United States, retinoblastoma is 90% curable – in India and the rest of the developing world, it is 90% fatal. The difference lies in early diagnosis and treatment. Genetics play a big role in who gets retinoblastoma and who doesn’t. Aravind works with leading genetics labs around the world to test families who might have the gene. Each test costs $1500 – to test a family of four is $6,000. That’s well beyond the budget of most Indian families.

Now, Aravind is building its own lab to offer affordable testing to our patients and hospitals throughout the developing world. The cost per test will be $200. To date, Aravind has raised $155,000 from the Allene Reuss Memorial Trust and the Sohum Foundation. We need to raise $80,000 by December 31 to answer the challenge – and buy the equipment to complete the lab.

Please help us answer the challenge to cure retinoblastoma.