Dubai: A delegation from Noor Dubai Foundation was received by a senior member from the Carter Centre in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States.
Noor Dubai Foundation, which is headed by Eisa Al Maidour, Chairman of the Foundation and Director-General of Dubai Health Authority, paid a visit to the Carter Centre where they were welcomed by Jimmy Carter, former US president and Chairman of the Carter Centre.
They discussed progress of an ongoing trachoma elimination programme conducted jointly by the two entities in Ethiopia. Additionally, they also discussed future collaborations in the pipeline such as elimination of river blindness in Uganda.
Trachoma, a bacterial infection of the eye, is a condition that eventually causes blindness if it is left untreated. Causes of trachoma are mainly the lack of tools for basic hygiene such as water and adequate sanitation.
A report was presented during the visit that highlighted the achievements and progress made by both the Carter Centre and Noor Dubai in the ongoing trachoma elimination programme they are jointly conducting in Ethiopia.
The three-year programme, which commenced in January 2014, aims to control and eliminate the blinding form of trachoma in the most endemic of 10 regions in Ethiopia known as the Amhara Region.
The delegation examined progress in areas such as surgeries and operation theatres, medicine and antibiotics distribution, latrines and educational health programmes.
With Uganda aiming at eliminating the disease by 2020, Carter Centre and Noor Dubai also discussed collaboration to help the country eliminate river blindness.
More than 99 per cent of cases of this disease are found in Africa and spreads through small black flies that breed in fast-flowing and highly oxygenated waters. The technical name of the disease is onchocerciasis.
Keen on collaborating in prominent programmes, Noor Dubai strives to help restore eyesight or prevent blindness in populations living in extreme poverty. Since its inception in 2008, 23 million people have benefited from the charity globally.
On April 28, Noor Dubai Foundation will host an exhibition and auction under the title Art4Sight at Zabeel Ladies Club. International and local artists have donated their artwork in order to help fund the foundation’s humanitarian programmes to prevent blindness with all proceeds raised from the auction.
