Noor to begin surgery for the blind

Dubai: The first phase of the Noor Dubai programme will focus on a therapeutic agenda involving surgically treating patients in Dubai for multiple conditions of blindness and poor vision.

No figures or details were given on how the therapeutic agenda will function, which is set to operate during Ramadan, however, updates will frequently be posted on the Dubai Health Authority website or through press conferences.

His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, recently announced the Noor Dubai programme which aims to cure one million people of visual impairments in its first year.

"This campaign is for the entire humanity and is not limited to any country or region. Attention will be focused on countries in need of facilities, knowledge, and manpower," said Qadi Saeed Al Murooshid, Director General of Dubai Health Authority, at a press conference hosted in the Monarch Hotel.

Campaign features

Noor Dubai will feature therapeutic, preventive, and education programmes during its one year campaign.

This involves providing training to local doctors in poor and developing countries and operating mobile hospitals to identify cases of blindness and creating social awareness programmes on preventable methods for visual impairment.

"At the moment we are getting doctors from the Columbia University and from Germany to assist us," he said.

The three components will jointly seek to treat and prevent blindness and visual impairment in the UAE and developing countries on a regional and international scale. The treatment will take place both in Dubai and in the respective countries.

Noor Dubai is recruiting patients from developing countries with the help of its international partners Lions Clubs International and ORBIS International, and nationally through the Ministries of Health, the Red Crescent and Red Cross Societies.