Dubai: An eight-year old girl from Iraq is the first to have her sight restored in her right eye through Noor Dubai, an initiative to prevent blindness among the poor, with plans to correct her vision in her left eye next week.
The charitable project, the brainchild of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, was launched on September 3 to correct and prevent blindness among those who cannot afford expensive eyecare. So far, the charity has received thousands of applicants from the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.
Dr Manal Taryam, head of the medical team with Noor Dubai, told Gulf News that the girl, whose name was also Noor had been born with both lenses dislocated. Noor means "light" in Arabic.
"She wasn't totally blind, but she suffered from very low vision. Her eye is recovering; it's improving and better than it was before the surgery," she said.
"She was very happy and eager to know when her eyesight will [be improving] and when she can have the same thing done to her left eye," she added. She said Noor Dubai hoped to perform the surgery on the girl's left eye next week.
Noor's case is not unique. A few other cases will be coming to Dubai for the same procedure at the same time, she added.
Both procedures will be performed by visiting eye surgeons from Columbia University in the US.
Other doctors include those from Germany, Egypt and the UAE, with surgeons from Spain to be added to the roster. So far, surgeries have included correction of squinting, in which the eyes are misaligned, and blindness-causing conditions, such as cataracts and glaucoma.
Dr Afaq Al Mashhari, head of the executive administration of Noor Dubai, said the initiative could not accept certain types of cases. "Currently, we don't accept corneal cases and end-stage cases of visual-impairment [such as when the damage is too extensive]. If it is still reversible, we will do it," she told the media.
She added there were plans to accept corneal cases in future.
Education: Spreading sky-high
A flying eye hospital will be spreading awareness on eyecare, as part of Noor Dubai's educational component of its overall vision to provide eye health services to more than one million people worldwide.
Noor Dubai partner Orbis Flying Hospital, the only flying training and ophthalmic eyecare centre, will fly around the world providing medical care and information on common and preventable causes of blindness.
Dr Wondu Alemayehu, country director Orbis International - Ethiopia, said at the September 11 launching that their partnership with Noor Dubai would be able to reach more people.
"Through Orbis International's partnership with Noor Dubai, I firmly believe we will help control blinding trachoma. In doing so, we will move one step closer to realising our shared dream of a world free from preventable forms of blindness by the year 2020," he said in a statement.
The partnership also entails the use of Orbis International Cyber-Sight telemedicine programme, which will connect eye doctors around the world.
