More than 27 million individuals from across Africa and Asia have benefited from treatment and preventive programmes provided by the Noor Dubai Foundation. Since its inception in 2008, the foundation has provided free services including surgeries, glasses and medication.
As a member of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness and the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives foundation, Noor Dubai aims to fulfil the objective of the Vision 2020 initiative to achieve a world free from preventable forms of blindness.
The foundation aims to do this by providing treatment, preventing the spread of diseases that cause blindness and educating the public about the causes of blindness and how to avoid them.
Revealing the summary of Noor Dubai’s annual report for 2017, Dr Manal Taryam, CEO and Board Member of Noor Dubai Foundation, says among the foundation’s programmes is the award-winning Mobile Clinic outreach programme in the UAE, which successfully provided free vision screening to more than 8,000 individuals in 2017.
“In partnership with the Permanent Committee of Labour Affairs in Dubai, we were able to screen more than 1,500 labourers in 16 different sites. In addition, continuing on the success of the 2016 campaign for vision screening in community schools in collaboration with Dubai Health Authority, we successfully screened over 5,000 students through 27 visits to 11 schools across the UAE last year.”
She adds that Noor Dubai Foundation has successfully continued with the hospital-based treatment programme in the UAE, treating 149 cases with critical eye diseases and limited financial capability through its partnership with the social services department of Dubai Health Authority and Dubai Hospital. Out of the 149, 32 cases received retinopathy (injection and surgery), 83 retinopathy (injection) and 34 for surgeries.
Internationally, the foundation has provided preventive and treatment services via its Mobile Eye Camps. “In 2017, Noor Dubai completed three successful mobile eye camps in Bangladesh, Eritrea and — for the first time — Nigeria,” explains Dr Taryam.
“Through this outreach programme, we succeeded in screening more than 13,000 patients for eye diseases in 2017. Since the launch of mobile eye camps in 2008, Noor Dubai Foundation has screened 257,338 individuals and provided 25,954 surgeries and 60,111 glasses to those living in remote areas with minimal access to primary healthcare facilities. Through receiving treatment, patients are able to go back to their daily lives and carry on their jobs and social responsibilities, leading to an improved economic and social conditions for those receiving treatment.”
She adds that in an effort to broaden the foundation’s scope and improve the effectiveness, efficiency and quality of the foundation’s programmes, a five-year strategic plan was created.
In line with the directive from His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to systemise charity work in the emirate, Noor Dubai Foundation created three administrative systems in the fields of quality, sustainability and social responsibility. The foundation was then awarded three ISO certifications including ISO 9001:2015 — Quality Management Systems; ISO 22301:2012 — Business Continuity; and ISO 26000 — Social Responsibility.
Furthermore, Noor Dubai Foundation is one of the first specialised charities to receive three ISO certificates in the Middle East and North Africa. The certification is a testimony to the foundation’s global and local commitment to provide the best-quality treatment and preventive services to fight visual impairment worldwide.