QRCS launches medical convoy to treat eye diseases in Mauritania
Doha, The Gulf Observer: Under its medical convoys program, Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has launched a medical convoy to treat eye diseases in Mauritania, in cooperation with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the National Program for Blindness Control of Mauritania’s Ministry of Health (MoH).
Operated by QRCS with funding from Education Above All (EAA), the Hamad bin Khalifa Hospital in Boutilimit is deploying successive medical and surgical delegations over six months to examine patients with eye diseases and perform cataract operations.
The project involves eight phases to cover many vulnerable parts of the country, with a total budget of $146,000. It is planned to perform a total of 2,000 surgeries and 6,000 medical examinations for the poor and remote communities that lack health care services. The target regions are Brakna, Hodh Al-Gharbi, Guidimaka, Trarza, Assaba, Tagant, and Gorgol.
Phase 1 of the medical convoy lasted for one week in the department of Sélibaby, Guidimaka. A team of five ophthalmologists and nine assistants traveled to the area, with the medical equipment, consumables, and medicines needed to carry out the surgical campaign.
During Phase 1, 259 cataract surgeries and 869 medical examinations were performed for free to save poor and older patients against blindness.
Currently, preparations are in progress to launch Phase 2, which will be implemented in the department of Bogué, Brakna, to perform 250 surgeries and 900 medical examinations over one week.
Dr. Mohamed Ould Andari, ophthalmologist and ophthalmic surgeon, said the medical convoy was intended to help poor patients, by providing them with treatment, given the fact that they could not afford to pay for the costs of surgical interventions, as well as the local hospital’s severe shortage of eye treatment resources.
