Acuity Medical has successfully completed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.) complied clinical trial of its TheraMac device. This would treat dry age-related macular degeneration (A.M.D.). Prior to the F.D.A. trial, an open label study was conducted on 404 patients.

In a campaign launched to mark World Sight Day, Sight Savers International, a U.K.-based charity, aims to track down and save Bangladeshi children in need of cataract surgery.

Since last year, Sight Savers' activities have saved 2,500 children from blindness. The procedure includes two surgeries: one to remove the cataract and a second to implant an intra ocular lens (I.O.L).

More and more Business Process Outsourcing (B.P.O.) companies and IT-enabled services (I.T.E.S.) are recognising the potential of disabled people and are keen to hire them. Most of these companies recruit through N.G.O.s and also provide job training. Estimates suggest that the number of disabled people working in the B.P.O.- I.T.E.S. sector could be about 2,000.

Despite rain and strong winds that whipped up high waves along the Outer Banks, a record amount of fish was caught during the 2005-North Carolina, Lions ‘V.I.P. Fishing Tournament’.

The tournament is an annual event for the visually impaired persons in the U.S. This year marked the 21st year that it was being held in the Outer Banks. Over 520 people representing 76 North Carolina counties participated in the event.

One volunteer was assigned to each three participants, placing the worm on the hook and removing the fish once caught.

At a 10-day camp for disabled people held in Ballabgarh, the Haryana Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, has announced a substantial hike in unemployment allowance for blind people of the state.

The event was organised by the District Red Cross Society, Faridabad, Lions Club International and Bhagwan Mahavira Sahayta Samiti, Jaipur.

Koichiro Kobayashi started climbing at the age of 16. He used to organise tours for people to enjoy outdoor sports. At the age of 28, he was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa. But his diminishing eyesight did not deter him from continuing with adventure sports.

In September this year, he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa, with a group of disabled climbers from across the world. “I want people to know they can enjoy sports, despite their disabilities,” says rock-climber Kobayashi.

SouthernLINC Wireless, an Atlanta, U.S.A. based company announced that it is offering ‘Enhancements for the Visually Impaired’ (E.V.I) software for Motorola's i355 phone.

The software includes Text-to-Speech (T.T.S) output. As the user scrolls through the handset's phone book playback of names, numbers and contact types occur. It also plays back the word "calling" as the user makes a call and reads off information such as signal strength, battery level, date and time.

The world's first portable electronic Braille display is small enough to fit in a pocket and can even be rolled up like a newspaper. The display consists of a sheet of tiny plastic paddles that bend in response to a voltage. It is designed to connect to a cell phone or laptop, and could also replace the liquid crystal screen of an ordinary personal digital assistant (P.D.A.).