As part of this campaign, 3,000 cataract patients in Sierra Leone will be offered free surgeries.

 

The cataract campaign, which is jointly carried out by Wellington Muslim Association and IHH, is led by AmaduConteh, who is from Sierra Leone and received education in Turkey. 

 

Sierra Leone, which is one of the 10 African countries where IHH sponsored free cataract surgeries as part of its Africa Cataract Project, launched in 2007, is one of the poorest countries in the world.

 

In Sierra Leone where access to medical services is very difficult and expensive, thousands of people lose their vision due to cataract which can actually be cured and this is the case in most of the African countries.

 

Seventy percent of the population of Sierra Leone is Muslim. The country is a former colony of the UK and there are people from various ethnicities in the country.

 

As part of the cataract campaign, 3,000 cataract patients in the country will be offered free surgeries without any discrimination.

 

People from many parts of the country cover long distances in order to benefit from the campaign which is introduced by radio channels and newspapers.

 

The surgeries will begin to be performed this April and expected to be completed next April.