March 21, 2010 | Read Time: 1 minute
The award: The Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, which annually recognizes an organization that is working to alleviate human suffering. The prize carries a $1.5-million award.
This year’s winner: Aravind Eye Care System, a group in Madurai, India that aids the blind. Every year the organization performs 300,000 eye surgeries at its facilities across the country.
Why it won: Steven M. Hilton, chief executive of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, says that Aravind stands out not only because of the large number of operations that it performs each year, but also for the high quality of its medical work. Aravind also has a sustainable business model. Seventy percent of the patients receive free or subsidized eye care, but it is almost entirely financed by the 30 percent of people who pay full price for operations. Aravind has successfully taken its approach to another developing country, Bangladesh, and is looking to expand into others. Mr. Hilton, who was not on the selection jury, visited the organization several years ago and says he was struck by how everyone he met there seemed almost spiritually dedicated to its mission.
“The top management of Aravind are ophthalmologists and do surgeries, too,” he says. “Even though they are in a more administrative role, they spend part of their time working in the clinics actually doing the operations.”
To see other recent awards, go to http://philanthropy.com/extras
