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Noor Dubai Foundation organised its latest Mobile Eye Camp at Tamale, the capital city of the Northern region of Ghana, where over 2,000 people benefitted through the programme’s activities, which included screening and providing diagnosis for eye care, conducting surgeries, and distributing spectacles Around 500 surgeries were conducted to restore the sight of hundreds of people.
Guided by the statistics published by the World Health Organisation and International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, and in consultation with the Ghana National eye care programme and local partners, the Foundation targeted the Northern Region of Ghana for its mobile eye camp.
To ensure the safety of all, the Foundation implemented several precautionary and contingency measures related to COVID-19.
Dr. Manal Taryam, CEO and Board Member of Noor Dubai Foundation, commented, "In 2020, there were an estimated 3.2 million people with vision loss in Ghana out of which 100,000 people were blind. The most prevalent cause of blindness is Cataract, which can easily be treated by surgery. Studies in Ghana showed that only 25 percent of the expected Cataract Surgical Rate has been achieved so far, furthermore, there is an estimated 3 ophthalmologists per 1 million of the population."
She added, "What we hope to achieve through the Mobile Eye Camp programme is to improve access to eye care services needed by the communities, therefore, contributing to the wellbeing of the individuals, as well as improve the capacity of the human resources for eye health."
The mobile eye camps aim to empower local healthcare workers to ensure the services are sustainable even after the mobile eye camp is concluded. The Foundation consistently employs local resources in the camps in addition to organising training programmes and supplying them with the necessary tools to treat patients.
"Studies have shown that cataract surgery can contribute to poverty alleviation, particularly among the most vulnerable members of society. Cataract surgery improves the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of the individual and the economy of their households. The findings of this study suggest these benefits are sustained in the long term," Dr. Taryam added.
To date, Noor Dubai Foundation has organised camps in 33 cities in 18 countries where 289,306 individuals have been screened, 29,974 surgeries have been performed and 67,642 glasses provided.
A UAE based non-profit under the umbrella of the Mohammad bin Rashid Global Initiatives, Noor Dubai has been active in the field of prevention of blindness since 2008. One of Noor Dubai’s main international outreach programmes is the Mobile Eye Camps, targeting remote areas in developing countries, where there is a need for improved access to health services and interventions to prevent treatable blindness.
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