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As the Al-Imdaad Foundation continues to run their Vision-4-Life Cataract programme, they welcomed the arrival of international volunteer ophthalmologists and medical technicians from Karachi who are performing cataract surgeries over the course of February.
The first of two cataract surgery camps were conducted at the Rietvlei Hospital, while the second camp is now underway at Umphumulo Hospital.
These camps are part of the Al-Imdaad Foundation’s Vision-4-Life eye care initiative. During the course of 2019, the foundation provided over five hundred cataract surgeries for people who could not afford it.
The partnership between Al-Imdaad, the KZN Department of Health and the volunteer surgeons, is ensuring that more people are assisted with improving their vision through surgery.
“The aim is to complete as many cataract surgeries as possible during the two scheduled camps, with the intention of combatting the current backlog at both facilities. We have completed our first camp at Reitvlei with 400 surgeries. By Monday afternoon, we should complete 100 surgeries on day one of the second camp in Umphumulo” said Al-Imdaad Foundation’s Vision-4-Life project co-ordinator, Abed Karrim. “We are grateful to these volunteers for their efforts.”
The delegation of doctors and medical technicians met with hospital authorities for briefing sessions at Rietvlei Hospital and Umphumulo Hospital upon their arrival.
“We are thankful for the opportunity to help with the back-logs of cataract patients in South Africa, and in this case in KwaZulu-Natal,” said Fakhruddin Dakhan, team manager of the international volunteers.
Al-Imdaad Foundation’s Chairperson, Moulana Chohan, thanked the Department of Health and the foreign volunteers for their assistance and co-operation in making the camps a possibility. He said that they were pleased to have been able to assist with the current backlogs of patients awaiting surgeries at public facilities.
Well done to the Al-Imdaad Foundation for reaching out to those in need.
