Dubai: The Noor Dubai Foundation has screened more than 7,000 people in its first mobile Eye Camp for 2013 in Axum, Ethiopia.
Eye care services are extremely limited throughout Ethiopia, which has a population of more than 82 million. Overall, there are 1.2 million blind people, 2.8 million people with low vision, and 9 million children aged 1-9 years have active trachoma, an infectious disease that leads to blindness.
The camp was held from February 18 to 24. Of the 7,000 examined for visual impairment, 276 were admitted for sight-saving surgery. Most patients were treated for cataract extraction and intraocular lens implantation.
Engineer Essa Al Maidoo, director-general of the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Noor Dubai Foundation, said in a media statement: “The six-day series of intensive operations to cure blindness in people suffering from cataracts and other causes of reversible blindness in Ethiopia was conducted successfully due to the efforts of the Noor Dubai team, who shall visit Axum again on April 8 to re-evaluate the outcome of surgeries and success of treatment.”
Dr Manal Taryam, CEO of Noor Dubai Foundation, said, “Successful surgeries were conducted on patients aged between 15 to 80 years. Most patients suffered from cataract, the leading cause for reversible blindness in Africa.”
The Noor Dubai medical team comprised five ophthalmology specialists and seven ophthalmic technicians accompanied by volunteers from the Axum health centre as well as volunteers from the DHA. The camp was supported by the Dubai Islamic Foundation and conducted in collaboration with local authorities and Al Basar Foundation.
To date, Noor Dubai has restored the vision of more than 6 million people in Pakistan, Sudan, Yemen, Chad, Niger, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Mali, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Palestine, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Bahrain and the UAE.
